Silent Epic ‘Grass Documentary’ Returns to London With Live Score by Peyman Yazdanian

London, 19 September 2025

One of the earliest cinematic records of Iran’s nomadic life is returning to the big screen in London this September. Grass: A Nation’s Battle for Life (1925), directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, will be screened at Kings Place with a newly composed live score.

The documentary follows Haidar Khan and 50,000 members of the Bakhtiari tribe in western Iran, as they cross the Karun River and climb the snowbound Zard Kuh mountains in the Zagros range with their herds in search of seasonal pasture. Set in the heart of the Middle East, this epic migration has often been described as “the greatest migration in modern history,” captured in striking silent-era images that remain unparalleled.

Grass is considered one of the first ethnographic documentaries, alongside Robert Flaherty’s Nanook of the North. In 1997, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” For many, it remains both a record of a vanishing way of life and a landmark in documentary storytelling.

Ernest B. Schoedsack (right) and Merian C. Cooper (left) with Haidar Khan and his 9-year-old son Lotfi during the filming of Grass: A Nation’s Battle for Life (1925) in western Iran. / CC

The screening will feature live music by acclaimed Iranian composer Peyman Yazdanian, whose work with Abbas Kiarostami and Asghar Farhadi has gained international recognition. His score, combining Western and Persian traditions, will be performed with Adib Rostami on kamancheh and tonbak.

Film historian Ehsan Khoshbakht will introduce the evening, sharing the fascinating backstory of Cooper and Schoedsack’s journey, joined by journalist Marguerite Harrison, who was part of the expedition.

Tickets are available through Kings Place.