Special Film Screening 752 IS NOT A NUMBER with In-Person Q&A

Join us on Monday, November 21 for a special screening of 752 IS NOT A NUMBER. The event will start at 6pm. Screening is open to all but registration is required.

Guests:

• Babak Payami, Film Director
• Hamed Esmaeilion, Spokesperson, Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims

“A portrait of heroism, determination, and unfathomable grief, 752 Is Not A Number is a powerful and deeply personal account from award-winning veteran director Babak Payami.” - Steve Gravestock, TIFF

“The clandestine nature of the production, moreover, evokes the furtive nature of Esmaeilion’s quest. With conflicting narratives and numerous bureaucratic hurdles impeding any sense of closure, 752 Is Not a Number illustrates how families had to take it upon themselves to seek justice.” - Pat Mullen, POV Magazine

Festivals:

• Toronto International Film Festival 2022 (World Premiere)
• Warsaw International Film Festival 2022 (Official Competition)

For Consideration:

• Best Documentary Feature (Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences)

View the trailer here.

With human rights protests raging unrelentingly in Iran, 752 IS NOT A NUMBER lays out the case for a regime that callously ignores the fundamental human right to life.

Award-winning veteran director Babak Payami (Secret Ballot, Best Director, Venice 2001) chronicles Canadian dentist Hamed Esmaeilion’s quest for justice in the aftermath of Ukraine Airlines Flight PS752, shot down in 2020 by the Iranian military.

On January 8, 2020, Ukraine Airlines Flight PS752 was shot out of the air as it was leaving Iranian air space killing all 176 people on board, many of them Iranian Canadians. Hamed Esmaeilion lost his wife and his young daughter in the incident.

For weeks Iranian authorities vociferously denied responsibility, but foreign governments and agencies were certain the plane was shot down by Iranian military. With no answers, Hamed took a harrowing journey to Iran to claim the remains, then embarked on a dogged quest for truth and justice for all the victims in this atrocity.

As the spokesperson for the Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims, Hamed finds himself caught in a web of geopolitical intrigue, international politics, legal complexities, detractors, and informants.