TEHRAN – Fourteen Iranian movies are competing in the 19th Third Eye Asian Film Festival underway at the Ravindra Natya Mandir Mini Theatre in Prabhadevi, India.

“The Contrary Route” by Abolfazl Jalili, “The Inheritance” by Sadeq Daqiqi and “The Night Train” by Hamidreza Qotbi are competing in the official section of the festival, which will run until December 18.

“The Contrary Route”, also known as “The Reversed Path” follows Emkan, a 17-year-old teenager who has not seen his father for many years and his mother works the late night shift in a factory. He has a small recording camera and he decides to make a film to give a twist to his routine life. Although he is not very proficient, he still tries his best to achieve his goal.

“The Inheritance” is about Adel, a 16-year-old boy whose parents have divorced and his mother lives abroad. 

He lives a very happy and extravagant life with his father in Tehran, until his relatives who live in another province ask his father to remarry. Despite Adel’s disapproval, his father travels there in hopes of getting married. However, on the way there he dies in a tragic accident. Adel’s relatives want to take over his guardianship until the age of 18 so he can decide wisely regarding his inheritance. However, Adel wants his independence immediately.

“The Night Train”, the winner of the best-adapted screenplay award at the 4th New Delhi Film Festival, tells the story of a writer who also works as a teacher. She narrates the story of an orphan girl to her students. Each student continues the story with her/his own imagination, and this gives the teacher material for her new story.

Eleven Iranian shorts, including “Cloak” by Naghmeh Maqsudlu, “A Few Minute Later” by Seyyed Javad Hosseini, “Driving Lessons” by Marzieh Riahi, and “A Moment of Life” by Alireza Hamidian, are selected to be screened at the festival.

Photo: “The Contrary Route” by Abolfazl Jalili.

MMS/YAW