TEHRAN – A review of movies from Iran’s modern cinema will be held in a special program at the Arlington International Film Festival, which will be held online from November 4 to 14 due to the pandemic.

The American festival is an annual nonprofit film event dedicated to promoting and increasing multicultural awareness through showcasing world cinema and independent films.

“47” by Alireza Ataollah Tabrizi and Ahmad Otraqchi is among the films to be screened during the program.

The feature drama tells three separate stories that become rivetingly interwoven, illustrating the difficulty of being a single woman.

The program will also showcase the short documentary “Gando” by Teimur Qaderi

The film tells the story of a 9-year-old girl, Hawa and her experience with a Gando.

Girls in Sistan and Baluchestan Province of Iran are tasked with bringing water to their villages by going to the pond, which can be quite a distance to walk. Most ponds are inhabited by the Iranian crocodile, the Gando, and the saying and belief is that where there is a Gando there is also water. They will attack; thus, it is not uncommon for these children to lose a leg or hand to these creatures.

The narrative short “The Kids” by Amir Daryani about the devastating effects a separation and divorce can have on children will also be screened.

A brother and sister wander into a judge’s office in family court and ask to legally separate from each other. The judge is confronted with their questions that he realizes deserve serious consideration.

“Fukushima Traveler” and “Dead Name” will be screened in the documentary category.

Directed by Masumeh Nurmohammadi, the film is about Afshin Valinejad, an accomplished Iranian journalist and photographer who worked for the Associated Press in Tehran for several years and was invited by Japan’s national public broadcasting organization, NHK, to go to Tokyo. He lived and worked in Japan for 8 years and evidentially became a freelance journalist. His report of the 2011 Fukushima earthquake is an insider’s perspective on this serious accident.

The short documentary “Dead Name” by Hossein Mirza-Mohammadi follows a journalist who begins to suspect there is more to the story than what she is being told during her investigation of a reported suicide at a shelter for homeless boys.   

“Aparat” by Hassan Najmabadi, “Abration” by Dariush Alizadeh, “Love Can’t Be Quarantined” by Zhinus Pedram and “Good Girl” by Raheleh Karami will be reviewed in the short section.

“Cloudy Dream” by Rayhaneh Einollahi and Bahareh Einollahi, “Wood” by Yasin Zohrabi, “Egg” and “Creative Mind”, both by Mehdi Barqzadegan, and “Politics” by Fardin Zarei will be showcased in the animation category.

Photo: Shaqayeq Farahani and Ladan Mostofi act in a scene from “47” directed by Alireza Ataollah Tabrizi and Ahmad Otraqchi.

MMS/YAW