TEHRAN – The Kazan International Muslim Film Festival has picked Iranian director Narges Abyar for its jury.

Abyar, director of acclaimed Iranian dramas “Track 143” and “When the Moon Was Full”, has been honored by several international festivals and cultural centers.

Earlier in March, she was honored with the Director Achievement Award at the International Women Filmmakers Festival 2022 in Izmir, Turkey.

In 2020, she received the HUM Women Leaders Award at the Governor’s House in the Pakistani city of Karachi.

Her 2019 drama “When the Moon Was Full” received the audience award at the 23rd Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia.

The Kazan festival jury also includes Hamid Benamra from Algeria, Anara Kashaganova from Kazakhstan, Amer Salmeen Al Murri from the UAE, Haobam Paban Kumar from India, Ihsan Kabil from Turkey and Elham Shahin from Egypt.

In addition, Russian filmmaker Valery Fomin and the rector of Tatarstan’s Russian Islamic University, Rafik Mukhametshin, will join the jury of the 18th edition of the festival, which will take place from September 7 to 11 in the capital of Tatarstan, a semi-autonomous region in southwest Russia.

Earlier in July, the Kazan festival announced its official lineup.

The Iranian movies “Silent Glory”, “Boars”, “No One Is Waiting for You” and “Nomad Girl” will be competing in various sections of the festival.

“Silent Glory” directed by Nahid Hassanzadeh will be screened in the feature film competition.

In this film, 35-year-old Rohan agrees to marry Mahi, an old man who had been the village teacher for many years. Mahi is now the caretaker of the village shrine in whose healing power he does not believe. Rohan begins her new life in a small room in the shrine. She meets a young boy who has taken refuge in the sanctuary of the shrine to be healed. When the boy dies suddenly, Rohan loses all her beliefs like her husband. The fanatic villagers do not tolerate the presence of two heathens in the shrine and the village anymore.
 
Directed by Gholamreza Jafari, “Boars” will be shown in the short film category.

It follows a man who marries a widow whose late husband had passed away abroad. However, villagers later tell him that her husband is alive and back. The three have found themselves in a dilemma.

“No One Is Waiting for You” and “Nomad Girl” have been selected to be screened in the documentary competition.

Directed by Mohsen Eslamzadeh, “No One Is Waiting for You” is about Sepideh Alizadeh, the director of a center for homeless women in southern Tehran, and her assistant Mona who once was one of the women supported by the center. Now Mona and Sepideh want to track the two children she left 28 years ago, however, they don’t have any trace of them.

“Nomad Girl”, a short documentary by Ruhollah Akbari, follows the daughter of one of the nomadic tribes, who, despite all the problems caused by the traditions and common beliefs about girls exercising, achieves much success in kickboxing. She tries to persuade the families of the girls in the area to encourage them to attend training classes in a nomad “black tent”.

The Kazan festival also plans to review Iranian cinema in a special program entitled “Iranian Cinema Day”.

The program is scheduled to screen “That Night’s Train” by Hamidreza Qotbi, “When the Moon Was Full” by Abyar, and “Wolf Cubs of the Apple Valley” by Fereidun Najaf.

In addition, the Iranian films “Yalda, the Night of Forgiveness” by Masud Bakhshi and “Balit” by Morteza Rahimi will be screened in the festival’s non-competition program.

Photo: Director Narges Abyar in an undated photo.

MMS/YAW