TEHRAN – Acclaimed Iranian drama “Ballad of a White Cow” will begin its premiere in Germany and Austria on February 3.

German distribution outfit Weltkino has purchased the German and Austrian rights to the movie co-directed by Behtash Sanaeiha and Maryam Moqaddam, who also plays the leading character, Mina.

The film follows Mina, a woman whose life is turned upside down when she learns that her husband Babak was innocent of the crime for which he was executed. 

The authorities apologize for the mistake and offer the prospect of financial compensation. Mina starts a silent battle against a cynical system for her own and her daughter’s sake. Just as her money is running out, a stranger named Reza knocks at her door, saying he has come to repay a debt he owed to Babak. Mina is guarded at first, but increasingly lets Reza into her life, unaware of the secret that ties them to one another.

“Ballad of a White Cow”, a co-production between Iran and France, has been screened at over 30 international festivals across the world.

It won third place in the 2021 Berlinale Competition Audience Award and the Student Jury Award at the 11th edition of the International Crime and Punishment Film Festival in Istanbul, Turkey.

The film has also received awards at several other festivals, including the Pilar Miró’ Prize for the best new director at the SEMINCI – Valladolid International Film Festival in Spain and the award for best narrative feature at the Der Neue Heimatfilm Festival in Austria.

Movie theaters in Sweden, Portugal, Czech, Slovakia, Japan and several other countries have begun screening the film produced at Caractères Productions, a production company based in Paris.

Totem Films, a Paris-based international sales and co-production company, has purchased the rights to sell “Ballad of a White Cow”.

Photo: Avin Purraufi and Maryam Moqaddam act in a scene from “Ballad of a White Cow”.

MMS/YAW