Newsha Tavakolian: For The Sake of Calmness

Thomas Erben Gallery is very excited to present Tehran based <strong>Newsha Tavakolian</strong>'s <em>For the Sake of Calmness</em> (19min, 2020).  The film depicts a bifurcated state of mind, removed from the real world while being hyper sensitively affected by it. Usually, Tavakolian's camera is directed towards other people's struggles - the artist is a member of Magnum Photos since 2019 - but here she directs the lens inwardly, taking her recurring experience with PMS as a point of departure. Tavakolian's inner monologue leads us through a labyrinthine set of scenes, each hauntingly speaking of painful stasis. Unable to express their emotions, the film’s protagonists instead transpire their interior tensions. With redemption seemingly out of reach, <em>For The Sake of Calmness</em> offers an apt metaphor mirroring our current uncertainties.