TEHRAN – The international competition of the 41st Fajr International Film Festival opened on Sunday by screening “The Winter Within”, a co-production of India, France and Qatar.

In this film directed by Aamir Bashir, a couple is torn apart by the violent military conflicts in the Kashmir region between India and Pakistan.

In the city of Srinagar, Nargis searches for her missing husband, Manzoor, until she is forced to hopelessly return to her village home. With a little help from a local man Yaseen, she silently toils away on an exquisite weave. But the quiet of the Kashmiri winter is like the silence of the graveyard, waiting to be shredded by what lies buried within.

The Fajr organizers have said that the screening schedule for the international competition will be announced daily and three films will be shown every day.

They have refused to unveil the total schedule for the international competition to deflect global media pressure on the entries to withdraw from the event.

In calls published on social media and some Persian television networks broadcasting from abroad, groups of Iranian film celebrities have asked their colleagues to boycott the festival in support of the unrest that arose against the Iranian government beginning in September 2022.

Mongolian director Amarsaikhan Baljinnyam’s movie “Harvest Moon” and Syrian filmmaker Basil Al-Khatib’s “Al-Hakim” were also screened on the first day of the international competition.

“Harvest Moon” is about Tulgaa, who returns to his native village to care for his dying stepfather, honoring his remaining commitments by offering to lend a hand with the summer harvest. But upon witnessing Tulgaa’s clumsy first attempts, Tuntuulei, a sassy 10-year-old boy, takes it upon himself to school the city slicker on the grassland ways. Despite getting off on the wrong foot, the two soon find common ground and form a delicate bond that will transform their lives.

“Al-Hakim” tells the story of a doctor who lives in a remote rural town in Syria, where he devotes his time and energy to serve its people with his professional and life experiences. He also serves as a wise man for them on the professional and social levels.

During his granddaughter’s visit to him, he is exposed to a personal ordeal. The state of social deterioration left by the war and its repercussions on people’s destinies, behaviors and morals is revealed.

Photo: A scene from “The Winter Within” by Indian director Aamir Bashir.

MMS/YAW