TEHRAN – The Annual Iranian Film Festival – San Francisco has announced the lineup for its 15th edition, which will take place on September 17 and 18.

This year’s festival presents 50 feature, documentary and animation films from Iran, USA, Italy, France, Luxembourg, Greece, UK, Canada, Australia, Denmark and several other countries.

“Wolf Cubs of Apple Valley” by Fereidun Najafi is a highlight of the feature film competition.

The film begins with a shot that rings out in the valley, and then Asho’s friend drops to the ground. The rifle bullet was meant for Asho; his father is wanted for murder and he, too, is being hunted. To evade those who are looking for him, Asho is forced to dress up as a girl and hide at his aunt’s house. In his hunt for answers, he heads out to Apple Valley with his cousin, Pari, to look for his mother, who he has always believed to be dead.

“Staging” will also be screened in this section.

Directed by Alireza Samadi, the film is about Asad, a man who works as a private bodyguard at night. But during the day he and his criminal gang stage accidents to collect money from the insurance companies. Leyla is a social worker who finds out and that’s when the troubles start.

Manijeh Hekmat’s acclaimed drama “Bandar Band” will also be screened.

In this film, after a long time, some Iranian women singers are going to enter an unofficial competition in a coffee shop in Tehran. Pregnant Mahla along with the other members of Bandar Band, her husband, and one of their closest friends, starts her journey to Tehran from a southern province just when they have lost all they had in the flood. They still keep their hopes alive, however, every road they take leads to a dead end in a flood-stricken land. They intend to go to Tehran, but they wonder if it is just another turn around a vicious circle.

The Iranian Film Festival – San Francisco aims to discover and support the next generation of Iranian filmmakers living and working around the world. 

Photo: A scene from “Wolf Cubs of Apple Valley” by Fereidun Najafi.

MMS/YAW