TEHRAN – The 41st edition of the Fajr Film Festival, Iran’s most important film event, has announced its lineup for the official competition.

As opposed to previous years, when the names of the films participating in the festival were revealed earlier, the lineup of this edition of the festival was released on Thursday.

Twenty-four films are scheduled to compete in the festival, which will be held from February 1 to 11. 

“The Case Is Open” by Kiumars Purahmad, “Why Don’t You Cry” by Alireza Motamedi, and “The Stranger” by Mohammad-Hossein Latifi are the highlights of the lineup. 

“The Case Is Open” portrays the case of Behnud Shojai, who was convicted of murder when he was still a teenager and had not yet reached the legal age. After four years in prison and reaching the legal age of 18 in 2008, he was executed.

“Why Don’t You Cry”, with a cast of prominent actors, tells the story of a man who has lost the ability to cry, and the effect it has on his life. 

Produced by the Owj Arts and Media Organization, “The Stranger” portrays the IRGC commander Mohammad Borujerdi’s struggles against separatists in western Iran to maintain the territorial integrity in the region in the early 1980s. 

The lineup also includes “Cinema Metropol” by Mohammad-Ali Bashe-Ahangar, “Vabel” by Turaj Aslani, “High Power” by Hadi Mohammadpur, “Number Ten” by Hamid Zargarnejad, “Master” by Seyyed Emad Hosseini and “Leather Jacket” by Hossein Mirzamohammadi. 

The Fajr Film Festival is organized every year from February 1 to 11 to commemorate the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

Fajr’s international section categories split from the festival in 2014, when the Cinema Organization of Iran, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, the main organizer of the event, announced that the international competition would be held separately from the national section for the first time in 2015.
    
Photo: Actor Babak Hamidian acts in a scene from “The Stranger” by Mohammad-Hossein Latifi

ABU/