TEHRAN – The acclaimed Iranian films “World War III” and “Beyond the Wall” will be competing in the 51st edition of the Belgrade International Film Festival in Serbia.

In addition “Banu”, a co-production of Azerbaijan, Iran and Italy, will be screened at the festival, which will take place from February 24 to March 5 in the Serbian capital.

Directed by Hooman Seyyedi, “World War III” was Iran’s submission to the international feature award at the 2023 Oscars, but it failed to enter the shortlist of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Winner of the Orizzonti Award for best film at the 79th Venice International Film Festival, the film follows Shakib, a homeless day laborer who never got over the loss of his wife and son in an earthquake years ago.

Over the last couple of years, he has developed a relationship with a deaf and mute woman, Ladan. The construction site on which he works today turns out to be the set for a film about the atrocities committed by Hitler during WWII. Against all odds, he is given a movie role, a house and a chance at being somebody. When Ladan learns about this, she comes to his workplace begging for help. Shakib’s scheme to hide her goes tragically wrong and threatens to ruin his newfound status and what seemed to be the opportunity of a lifetime.

“Beyond the Wall” by Vahid Jalilvand is about a blind man whose suicide attempt is interrupted by his building’s concierge who informs him of an escaped woman’s hideout in the building. It becomes the blind man’s goal to help her.  

Written and directed by Tahmina Rafaella, “Banu” tells the story of a woman, who is accused of being an unfit mother by her influential husband. Now, she fights for the custody of her son amid the chaos of the final days of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. She has four days to find a single voice to speak on her behalf.

Photo: A scene from “World War III” directed by Hooman Seyyedi.

MMS/YAW