Grass with Live Accompaniment by Zöj

Iranian-Australian duo ZÖJ — composer and kamancheh player Gelareh Pour and drummer Brian O’Dwyer — present a breathtaking live score to Grass, the 1925 silent film chronicling the nomadic Bakhtiari tribe’s epic migration through the mountains of Iran. Through ZÖJ’s haunting instrumentation, the film’s black-and-white imagery is reborn with new intensity. Pour’s kamancheh weaves melodies of longing and endurance, while O’Dwyer’s percussion evokes the earth itself — trudging footsteps, rushing rivers, the heartbeat of survival. This is not mere accompaniment but re-interpretation: a contemporary conversation between image, sound and heritage. Grass becomes a reflection on movement, displacement and the fragile relationship between people and land — resonating deeply with global stories of today. Presented in partnership with CDoc, this performance offers both historical rediscovery and present-tense urgency — proof that music can breathe new energy into archives of endurance.