TEHRAN-The Iranian animation “Anita, Lost in the News” written, directed, and produced by Behzad Nalbandi will take part in the 43rd International Istanbul Film Festival, set to be held from April 17 to 28.

A production of 2023, the 17-minute animation will be screened in the Documentary Time section of the festival, ISNA reported.

Created using puppets made from newspaper clippings, it is about a Kurdish-Iranian family of four who died in the sinking of a migrant boat in the English Channel in 2020. 

On October 27, 2020, an inflatable boat left the coast of Dunkirk, France to take 19 undocumented immigrants to England, but capsized after a few minutes and seven migrants drowned; five belonged to a Kurdish-Iranian family who had gone on this difficult journey dreaming of a better life.

At the time of the tragedy, there were ten more people on board than the vessel could hold. One of the victims was nine-year-old Anita, from whose perspective we follow the story.

“Anita, Lost in the News” has already been present at several international film festivals in Japan, the U.S., the U.K., and India.

The International Istanbul Film Festival is the first and oldest international film festival in Turkey, organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts. It is held every year in April in movie theaters in Istanbul.

The International Istanbul Film Festival was first presented as a film week in the summer of 1982. Beginning in 1984, the event became a separate activity and was shifted to April. Accredited by FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Associations) in 1989 as a “specialized competitive festival”, the “film week” thus was renamed the International Istanbul Film Festival. 

Acclaimed Iranian dark comedy “World War III” directed by Hooman Seyyedi won the Golden Tulip for best film at the 42nd Istanbul Film Festival last year.

SS/SAB