TEHRAN – The acclaimed Iranian movies “The Apple Day” and “Until Tomorrow” are competing in the 10th Ajyal Film Festival in Doha, Qatar.

Directed by Mahmud Ghaffari, “The Apple Day” has been selected to be screened in the Mohaq Competition, which is dedicated to films for audiences eight years of age and older.

“A” is for “apple”, or more appropriately in Farsi, “S” is for “seeb”. Young Mehdi is learning the alphabet and his teacher has the creative idea of rooting the new letters in real-life objects. Since Mehdi’s father is an apple seller by trade, his duty is to bring each student an apple for the class on “S”, a simple enough task on the surface. But when the family’s van is stolen, it sets off a series of events that make finding 30 apples seem like a herculean challenge, one which older brother and young hero, Saeid, is determined to accomplish.

“The Apple Day” was awarded the Silver Apricot and FIPRESCI Prize at the 2022 Yerevan Golden Apricot International Film Festival in Armenia.

“Until Tomorrow” has been chosen to be shown in the Hilal Competition, which features films suitable for audiences 13 years of age and older. 

The film follows Fereshteh, a young mother who faces a serious dilemma. On the surface, she is relatively happy, studying and working in a print shop in Tehran, with dreams of one day traveling abroad. But her parents are coming to visit, and she has kept a secret from them — her two-month-old daughter born out of wedlock. And with little help from the father, Fereshteh and her trusted friend Atefeh must resort to increasingly desperate measures to keep her baby hidden and safe in a city with limited options for a mother living outside of traditionally accepted family norms.

The film was honored with a special mention at the Zurich Film Festival last week.

The Ajyal Film Festival will announce the winners in different categories on Saturday.

Photo: “The Apple Day” by Iranian director Mahmud Ghaffari.

MMS/YAW