TEHRAN – The Riverside International Film Festival has selected to nine Iranian movies to screen various sections of the non-profit event that opened on Tuesday in the Inland Empire region of Southern California.

“The Badger” directed Kazem Mollai and “Metamorphosis in the Slaughterhouse” by Javad Darai are competing in the feature films section.

“The Badger” is about Sudeh, a 40-year-old woman who faces a strange incident right before her second marriage. Sudeh and her son Matiar live in an old apartment. One day, she hires a pest control company to solve the termite problems in the apartment. While the pest control company is working, Matiar is recording the procedures, as this is his hobby. The next day, Matiar gets kidnapped after school, and the kidnapper asks Sudeh to pay 10 Bitcoins for her son. Tremendous pressure is put on Sudeh, but the truth hidden beneath will surprise everyone.

“Metamorphosis in the Slaughterhouse” tells the story of Shadi, a little girl that her parents have been accused of murdering a girl in the village, and villagers killed her parents to seek revenge. Her uncle adopts her and now Shadi must face the problems that people of the village have caused.

“Radde” by Ali Lavari-Monfared, “Ava’s Silence” by Seyyed Gholamreza Nematpur, “The Blue Bed” by Alireza Kazemipur, “Quit” by Sina Ravi, “A Boy Has Disappeared” by Aida Alimadadi, “Goodnight Melika” by Alborz Pursayyad and “The Guardian Angel” by Afshin Eisai have been selected for the short film competition.

“Radde” revolves around an alone fisherman who lives on an abandoned Wharf with derelict ships. Suddenly he finds a fish who tried to commit suicide himself and the fisherman wants to save its life.

“Ava’s Silence” is about Ava, a young girl who has to work in her father’s auto shop as a mechanic because of her father’s illness. Ava is looking forward to her brother returning from military service in a border area so she can marry Abbas.

“The Blue Bed” tells the story of Zahra, a middle-aged woman who visits a temporary marriage agency and signs up to have a young working girl. She picks her up to take her home but the girl, Negar, who has never had a female client before, becomes suspicious of Zahra’s intent and sexual orientation.

“Quit” is about a girl who is forced to distribute drugs by her father and brother. She remembers her mother because of an accident and then decides to stop distributing drugs because of her mother. This decision causes her to be killed by the drug dealer.

“A Boy Has Disappeared” is about a seven-year-old boy named Daniel whose parents are divorced, and who is sexually abused by his dad during his monthly visits. He overcomes this tragedy by his imagination, revolving around his having the ability to cause himself, as well as the objects around him, to disappear.

“Goodnight Melika” tells the story Melika, a teenage girl who is the child of divorce. She lives with her mother. His mother intends to remarry and wants to evict her daughter. Melika accidentally finds out that her mother told her fiance that she had never had a child, and this causes Melika mental damage.

“The Guardian Angel” is about a girl who is caring for her ailing father. She must go to far-fetched lengths to emigrate from Iran.

The Riverside International Film Festival will run until May 1.

Photo: Hassan Majuni acts in a scene from “The Badger” by Kazem Mollai.

MMS/YAW