TEHRAN – “White Clad” by Iranian director Reza Fahimi has been added to the long list of movies competing to receive a nomination for the best short film Oscar in 2022.

The film achieved the status after winning the grand prize of the 37th Tehran International Short Film Festival (TISFF) in January, the Iranian Youth Cinema Society (IYCS) that is the main organizer of the festival announced on Monday.

“White Clad”, a production of the Iranian Youth Cinema Society by Reza Fahimi, follows an old woman who brings some goat’s cheese to Ahmad, a ten-year-old boy, so that he can give it to his father, who is a teacher, as a gift to urge him to intervene and stop the hanging of the woman’s son.    

The IYCS announced in July that the Tehran International Short Film had been designated as an Oscar-qualifying festival for the Academy Awards’ Best Short Film category.

“There are few festivals in Asia having this honor, for example, Egypt in North Africa and Japan, South Korea, Singapore and India are the sole countries having Oscar qualifying festivals,” said IYCS director Sadeq Musavi who is also the director of the festival.

“At present, there are over 10,000 festivals being organized across the world, most of them are ineligible. Meanwhile, the Tehran short festival has earned notable status in the world, although the festival is not decidedly well known, it can be considered as the most important short film festival in West Asia,” he added.

He said that the Tehran short festival is the only event offering free admission, and added, “Free registration will be set aside after the restrictions on international payments are lifted, and, like other festivals, we will collect a registration fee from participants and the festival will be able to cover all its expenses.”

Photo: A scene from “White Clad” directed by Reza Fahimi.

MMS/YAW