TEHRAN – Iranian shorts “Slaughter” and “Psycho” will be competing in the Riurau Film Festival, which will take place in the Spanish city of Denia on September 1 and 2.

“Slaughter” co-directed by Saman Hosseinpur, Ako Zandkarimi is about Qasem, who is forced to sell their cow during a particularly harsh winter in the village. But before he could butcher it, his son who loves the cow has freed the cow, and now Qasem must launch a search to find the missing cow.

The film was selected best Asian narrative at the Global University Film Awards (GUFA) in 2020 in Hong Kong. It also won Hosseinpur and Zandkarimi the award for best director.

Directed by Mostafa Davtalab, “Psycho” tells the story of a couple, a young woman and her mentally-ill husband, who take a cab to a psychiatric hospital.

The Riurau Film Festival (RRFF) was established by the non-profit association Escola de Cinema Riurau (ECRR) in 2012 with the aim of offering a space for meeting, dissemination, development and competition to short filmmakers from all over the world. It has its origin in the Fes De Curts festival in Dénia in 2011.

The Associació Escola De Cinema Riurau (ECRR) was created in 2007 to provide accessible audiovisual literacy to the Marina Alta region. 

The ECRR currently teaches film courses in Denia and Xabia/Javea. Students who finish their work each year are automatically invited to showcase their works at the festival.

Photo: “Slaughter” co-directed by Saman Hosseinpur and Ako Zandkarimi.

MMS