TEHRAN – Iranian movies “Ocean behind the Window” and “The Kites” will be competing in the various sections of the 8th Zero Plus (0+) International Film Festival in Siberia, Russia.

“Ocean behind the Window” by Babak Nabizadeh will be screened in the competition of feature films. 

The film centers on a small and remote island where people live under hardship. Borhan is an adolescent who has made an interesting decision to help his family and to introduce the island. He collects a group, holds a carnival and performs traditional music and theater for tourists. Their lives on the island improve and more tourists come, but there is a big problem on the way.

The film was picked as best children’s film at the 13th Annual Iranian Film Festival – San Francisco in 2020.

Directed by Seyyed Payam Hosseini “The Kites” is competing in the short section of the Zero Plus festival.

The film tells the story of a girl whose kite flies away along the Iraqi-Iranian border of Kurdistan. She calls three boys for help. However, the children are not only separated by a river, but also by the explosive legacies of past wars.

It was screened in the Generation section of the 70th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival in February and March 2020.

The eighth edition of the Zero Plus festival will take place in Tyumen in the Russian region of Siberia from September 26 to October 3.

The event is organized every year by the Life & Business Creativity Development Foundation, the Federation of Contemporary Art Non-Government Organization and the Russian Association of Film Pedagogues.

The festival aims to promote and popularize high-quality films, which foster a positive, creative and formative worldview in children and young people.

It also intends to strengthen traditional common human values like friendship, family, creativity, profession, and nature.

The festival also tries to connect cinema and education through the formation of a collection of value-oriented films and carrying out educational screenings at schools, cultural and social institutions of Russia.

Photo: A poster for “Ocean behind the Window” by Iranian director Babak Nabizadeh.

MMS/YAW