TEHRAN – Modern Iranian cinema is under the spotlight in a special section at the Inverness Film Festival underway in Scotland. 

Acclaimed movies such as “Wasteland”, “Old Men Never Die” and “Hit the Road” are being reviewed in the category named “Afternoon in Iran”.

The poster for the festival, which ends today, carries a scene from director Panah Panahi’s “Hit the Road”.

The film is about a chaotic, tender family, which is on a road trip across a rugged landscape, but to where? In the back seat, Dad has a broken leg, but is it really broken? Mom tries to laugh when she’s not holding back tears. The kid keeps exploding into choreographed car karaoke. All of them are fussing over the sick dog and getting on each other’s nerves. Only the mysterious older brother is quiet.

Upon its world premiere at the Venice festival, “The Wasteland” directed by Ahmad Bahrami won three awards, including best film in the Horizons section and the critics’ FIPRESCI Prize.

The film follows a remote brick manufacturing factory producing bricks using an ancient method. Many families with different ethnicities work in the factory and the boss seems to hold the key to solving their problems. Forty-year-old Lotfollah, who was born on-site, is the factory supervisor and acts as go-between for the workers and the boss. The boss has Lotfollah gather all the workers in front of his office. He wants to talk to them about the shutdown of the factory. All that matters now to Lotfollah is to keep Sarvar unharmed, the woman he has been in love with for a long time.

Directed by Reza Jamali, “Old Men Never Die” is about 100-year-old Aslan, the head of a death squad in his youth, who lives with his other single old fellows in a remote village. Since he came to the village 45 years ago, nobody has ever died there! Now, most of the population consists of old and disabled men. All being done with life, they believe the only way to bring death back to the village is to commit suicide!

Photo: “Old Men Never Die” by Reza Jamali.

MMS/YAW