About this event
FilmMercer Union and TIFF Wavelengths Presents hosts the Toronto premiere of Rouzbeh Akhbari’s debut feature, Crossings: Kaleh Ziyarat (2026). An experimental documentary filmed between the Caspian lowlands and the Strait of Hormuz, Crossings traces the undercurrents of sanctioned economies, revealing how informal trade and rumour sustain movement in a region increasingly defined by constraint. Through archival re-animation and documentary observation, the film follows the informal livestock trade that coils beneath the official infrastructures of the International North South Transport Corridor.
Crossings: Kaleh Ziyarat (2026) with Rouzbeh Akhbari is presented by TIFF Wavelengths Presents in partnership with Mercer Union alongside the exhibition Rouzbeh Akhbari: Of Wool and Diesel, on view at Mercer Union from September 26, 2026 to January 23, 2027.
Image: Rouzbeh Akhbari, still from Crossings: Kaleh Ziyarat, 2026. Courtesy the artist.
Tickets on sale in November at tiff.net
Artist Bio