TEHRAN – Eleven films in various genres will be screened at the Iranian Film Festival Australia as the organizers of the 10th edition of the event have announced its official lineup.

Ida Panahandeh’s latest drama “Titi” will open this year’s festival, which will take place from May 20 to June 16 in the cities of Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

Working in a hospital, Titi encounters Ebrahim, a nuclear physicist suffering from a terminal illness. Taking a liking to Titi, he explains his work to her, and she believes that it is essential to the future of the planet. When he slips into a coma, his wife demands his papers are discarded, but Titi takes them home, where her husband lines his rabbit cages with them. Eight-month pregnant as a surrogate for a childless couple, Titi wanders into the sea, where her mystical powers are able to bring the professor back to life. As he searches for the papers she took, he enters the world of Titi, and nothing will ever be the same.

Director Majid Majidi’s child labor drama “Sun Children”, which was Iran’s submission to the Oscars 2021, is among the films.

Shahram Morkri’s drama “Careless Crime”, the winner of the Silver Hugo of the jury at the Chicago International Film Festival in 2020, is another highlight of the lineup.

Another notable movie in the selection is director and writer Masud Bakhshi’s “Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness”, which won the award for best screenplay at the Barcelona Sant Jordi International Film Festival (BCN Film Fest) in April.
  
The selection also includes “Cinema City” by Keivan Alimohammadi and Ali-Akbar Heidari, “The Wasteland” by Ahmad Bahrami, “Bandar Band” by Manijeh Hekmat and “Puff, Puff, Pass” (“3 Puffs”) by Saman Salur. 

The festival also plans to pay tribute to writer and director Kambuzia Partovi by screening his latest movie,“The Truck”. He died of COVID-19 last November.

The film is about a Yazidi woman and her two children, who manage to escape from an ISIS massacre. Helped by a truck driver, they go to Tehran looking for her husband who is apparently in Iran looking for a job.

The festival will also screen the documentaries “Chicheka Lullaby” by Raha Faridi and “Sebaloo” by Mohsen Nesavand.

An online edition of the festival with a different lineup of films is also scheduled to be organized across Australia from June 20 to 30. 

Photo: “Titi” by Ida Panahandeh will open the 10th Iranian Film Festival Australia on May 20.

MMS/YAW