TEHRAN – Iranian movies “Malakout”, “Atabai” and “Spotted Yellow” will be screened at the 40th edition of the Cambridge Film Festival in England.

Directed by Farnush Abedi, “Malakout”, also known as “Divinity”, will be screened in the Shorts to Unnerve category of the festival, which will take place in Cambridge from November 18 to 25.

The acclaimed animated movie produced at the Documentary and Experimental Film Center tells the story of a pianist, who has lost one of his hands and can’t play the piano anymore. Doctors decide to transplant a dead criminal’s hand to his body. The pianist with his new hand starts killing people.

The film has been screened in numerous international events and won several awards, including the Excellence Award at the 18th Hiroshima International Animation Festival.     

It also won two honors for Abedi, including the best director award at the Dead of Night Film Festival in Liverpool.

In “Atabai”, director Niki Karimi takes us into a world of tradition, hopes and expectations. 

Kazem returns from a business trip to discover that his brother-in-law has sold his orchard to a stranger, Shirazi. Kazem finds himself falling in love with Shirazi’s daughter but first must face his past. 

With its intertwined use of Azerbaijani and Farsi languages, alongside the fabulous landscapes of northwest Iran, this film brings a fresh perspective to Iranian cinema and seeks to build bridges between generations and communities.

The film was honored by the Majlis Youth Fraction and the Ministry of Sports and Youth the National Will Manifestation Awards.

The awards are presented to those films that promote issues being pursued by some public organizations and institutes.

“Spotted Yellow” will be screened in the Shorts to Expand category.

Directed by Baran Sarmad, the film follows Roya, a young woman with a yellow spot on her face, who becomes enraptured by fantasies of a giraffe in her daily life, resulting in strange and surreal expressions and behavior.

Photo: Javad Ezzati and Hadi Hejazifar act in a scene from “Atabai” directed by Niki Karimi.

MMS/YAW