TEHRAN – The Monstra-Lisbon Animation Festival that opened on Wednesday in the Portuguese capital has selected five movies by Iranian filmmakers to screen in its different categories.

“The Fourth Wall” by Mahbubeh Kalai and “People and the Moon” by Yunes Kaffashian will be screened in the short competition.

“The Fourth Wall” is about a stuttering boy who transforms an Iranian kitchen into a fantastic cosmos. The father’s body becomes a refrigerator, the mother’s belly a washing machine whose spin cycle gives birth to a screaming baby. Even birds on tiles and detergents have a surprising life of their own. 

This exuberant animation, dotted with real-life elements – fried eggs, broken plates, pieces of cheese – develops a subtle wit, ironizing ingrained family patterns.

The movie produced at the Documentary, Experimental and Animation Film Center has previously received the Mephisto 97.6 Award for the best animated film at DOK Leipzig, Germany’s major international festival for documentary and animated films.

The 31st edition of Animafest Zagreb, a Croatian international festival for animated films, honored the film with the Zlatko Grgic Award.

“People and the Moon” shows that the moon always has an important presence when one is in love.

“Stars in the Rain” and “Sympathy Syndrome” have been chosen to be screened in the Family Program category.

Directed by Sara Namju, “Stars in the Rain” follows passengers on a train who see a boy boarding on a rainy day. His presence is like a brief miracle.

“Sympathy Syndrome” by Maral Alizadeh tells the story of a kid who is at home, but the desire to see the beauty of the city makes him leave the house. Why does being outside worry them?

“Anima”, a production from the Documentary, Experimental and Animation Film Center, has been selected for the Perspective section.

Directed and written by Mahbubeh Mohammadzaki, the short animation is about a man who has a problem with his character and is in conflict over his differences with other people.

Photo: “Stars in the Rain” directed by Sara Namju.

MMS/YAW