TEHRAN – The East Los Angeles College plans to hold the Iranian Animation Day in its 7th Annual Animation Film Festival on March 26.

The event will be opening with remarks by Linda Kallan, Chair of Art Department at ELAC and Bijan Tehrani, editor-in-chief of the Cinema without Borders Foundation, who is also the director of the Festival.

Nine animated short movies, including “The Sixth String” directed by Bahram Azimi, will be screened in the event, which will be organized with contributions from the Cinema and Without Borders Foundation and  Aduren Studio.

A video message that shows Azimi talking about “The Sixth String” and a short film about the production of the animation will also be screened. 

The film is about a musician who wants to compose his new music inspired by his new car. 

The story of the movie is based on the life of Darvish Khan, a Persian classical musician and tar player, who passed away 90 years ago in a car accident. He is considered as the first victim of a car accident in Iran.

“Am I a Wolf?”, winner of the Golden Dove for best animated film at the 62nd DOK Leipzig in Germany, will also be reviewed.

Directed by Amir-Hushang Moin, the movie is about a group of children who perform the familiar story of the wolf and the yearlings in school as a puppet show. The nanny goat grieving for its yearlings and the angry wolf in its solitude face each other.

“The White Whale” by Iranian director Amir-Hossein Mehran is another highlight of the lineup. It won the award for best animated short at the 12th Warsaw Film Festival.

The animation tells the story of a man who has lost his close friends in an air attack during the war a long time ago. After 30 years, he is looking for their remains in a big river while a White Whale is the only sign he has.

The event also features “Hajar’S Wedding” by Mahin Javaherian, “The Tree|” by Sareh Shafipur, “When I was a Child” by Maryam Kashkolinia, “The Switchman” by Mehdi Khorramian, “The Fox” by Sadeq Javadi, “Malakout” Farnush Abedi and “Gone” by Samaneh Asadi.

Film experts Sarah Baisley, Tom Sito and Mike Libonati will also attend a panel discussion.

The program will end with a tribute to legendary Iranian animation artist Ali-Akbar Sadeqi, director of the acclaimed short animated films “Seven Cities” and “Flower Storm”.

Photo: “Flower Storm” by Ali-Akbar Sadeqi.

MMS/YAW