Iranian cinema has evolved in many ways since Houston’s annual film festival—the longest-running annual MFAH event—was established two decades ago. This year’s selections include comedy, drama, and an acclaimed documentary. The 20th Iranian Film Festival. The Iran JobDirected by Till Schauder2012, USA/Iran, 90 minutes Q&A with producer Sara Nodjoumi and director Till Schauder via Skype following January 20 screening The Iran Job follows American basketball player Kevin Sheppard as he accepts a job to play in Iran. With tensions running high between Iran and the West, Kevin tries to separate sports from politics only to find that politics is impossible to escape in Iran. Along the way he forms an unlikely alliance with three outspoken Iranian women. Thanks to these women, his apartment turns into an oasis of free speech, where they discuss everything from politics to religion to gender roles. Kevin’s season in Iran culminates in something much bigger than basketball: the uprising and subsequent suppression of Iran’s reformist Green Movement – a powerful prelude to the sweeping changes across the Middle East in the wake of the Arab Spring.