TEHRAN – Movies from Iranian filmmakers will also be screened in the different categories of the 15th Sofia MENAR Film Festival in Bulgaria as the organizers previously announced a special section for Iranian women directors.

Eight films, including “Nargesi” by Payman Eskandari, “Golden Blood” by Ebrahim Sheibani and “Solo on Icebergs” by Ruhollah Sediqi will be showcased in the feature film competition.

In “Nargesi”, Narges is Hossein’s dream woman: beautiful, friendly, and always ready to follow him and listen to him. And Hossein’s biggest dream is to get married and be rich so that the woman next to him is happy. But the reality is a little darker for the charmer because Hossein has Down’s syndrome and to make his dream come true he will have to make diligent efforts.

“Golden Blood” follows Nahid, a strong woman who takes care of her children by herself, driving around the city streets all day, while her drug-addicted husband ruins the everyday life of the whole family. Things get complicated after the bodies of several women are found and police warn single women to be careful when out and about.

“Solo on Icebergs” tells the story of Yunes, who cannot come to terms with his father’s domineering nature and has been living away from his home for 24 years. Today he faces a test: he returns home for a family gathering. All the relatives are on alert as to how everything will end. Will the two men understand each other as son and father or will they not talk to each other until the grave?

This section also features “No Prior Appointment” by Behruz Shoeibi, “The Inheritance” by Sadeq Sadeqdaqiqi, “7 AM” by Masud Farjam, and “Residents of Nowhere” by Shahab Hosseini.

“Saralish”, a co-production between Iran and Afghanistan by Yasser Ahmadi and Behruz Baqeri will be competing in this section.

The festival’s short program “The Inconvenient” has been dedicated to Iranian films.

“Suite Night” by Mahtab Pishkhadam, “The Children of Wild Orchid” by Farshad Mohammadi, “Split Ends” by Alireza Kazemipur, “The Tendency” by Mobin Pekand and “Giti Jan” by Shayan Shahverdi will be screened in this section.

The Iranian movies “The Mirror” by Mohammad Farzadfar and Saeid Shamani, “The Single Horn” by Mohammad Kamal-Alavi and “The Chick” by Bijan Arabi will compete in the short program named “The Different”.

The Afghanistan-Iran co-production “Forced” by Siavash Gorjestani will also be screened in this section of the festival.

The Sofia MENAR Film Festival, which screens movies from the Middle East and North African Region (MENAR), will take place from January 16 to 29, 2023 in the capital of Bulgaria.

Photo: A scene from “Nargesi” by Iranian director Payman Eskandari.

MMS/YAW