TEHRAN – Filmfest Dresden, an international short film festival based in Dresden, Germany, has chosen the Iranian movies “The Fourth Wall”, “Orthodontics” and “Form” for screening during its 34th edition opening on April 5.

“The Fourth Wall” and “Orthodontics” will be showcased in the official international competition.

Directed by Mahbubeh Kalai, “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. 

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, also honored the film with the Zlatko Grgic Award.

“Orthodontics” by Mohammadreza Mayghani tells the story of Amitis, a teenage girl who has always had to wear orthodontics headgear and is under pressure because of her orthodontic treatment. She suddenly does a strange thing to her friend Sarah.

A jury consisting of Mariana Hristova, John Canciani and Martina Scarpelli will judge the films in the international competition.

“Form” by Saeid Qasemi will be screened in the Beyond Borders category.

The film follows Mahnazir, the daughter of an Afghan immigrant family living in Iran. When her father Kabir gets sick and is unable to work at the brickworks, Mahnazir begins a game of hide and seek with her own family and her father’s male work colleagues.

“In life, we repeatedly come up against borders and limitations that we have to overcome,” the organizers have said about the Beyond Borders section of the six-day festival. 

“And this is also the case for the protagonists in these diverse short films, who have to struggle with the most disparate of standards, prohibitions and expectations. They set off and face these challenges, in order to be able to go their own way in life. Which also means crossing borders and getting to know new worlds for the audience as well,” they added.

Photo: Fereshteh Fuladi acts in a scene from “Form” directed by Saeid Qasemi.

MMS/YAW