TEHRAN-The Iranian short film “Morse” written and directed by Ronak Jafari has been nominated for the best short film award at ImagineIndia International Film Festival, set to be held in Madrid, Spain, from September 1 to 16.

A total of 29 short films from around the world are present at the short film section of the festival, among which there are five Iranian works, ISNA reported on Wednesday.

The Iranian works at the festival include “Last Supper” by Farzin Taheri, “Typesetter” by Nasim Forough, “Leber” by Shervineh Didandeh, “Witness” by Aida Tebianian, as well as “Morse”.

Beside “Morse”, six other short films from France, Nepal, India, Turkey and Lebanon have been nominated for the award.

The 25-minute drama “Morse” is about three ex-political prisoners, all of them once sentenced to death, who gather to summon the ghost of Khosrow, one of their old comrades. It’s said that Khosrow had committed suicide in prison, but now would they find a way to the truth in their reunion?

A 2022 production, the movie has Hadi Hejazifar, Saman Saffari, Salman Farkhondeh, Sahra Asadollahi and Hooman Rahnamoon in the cast.

According to the director of the film, “Morse” is about the human behaviors. “For me, it is some kind of ‘The Last Supper’ where Judas is tried; it is some kind of the play ‘Hamlet’ underlining a reaction to the traitor Claudius. ‘Morse’ is about my heroes who, regardless of their orientation and their ways of thinking, were imprisoned and executed for one common goal: freedom”.

Ronak Jafari, 34, made her first work, a one-minute film, at the age of 19. The film entered local festivals and brought her awards and recognition. Since then, she has made eight documentaries and two short films. 

“Morse” was premiered at the 38th Tehran International Short Film Festival in 2021, where it won the best film and best director awards. In the past two years, it has been screened in several other local and international film festivals as well. 

In the official section of the ImagineIndia International Film Festival, 13 films are vying for the first prize Golden Chakra including the Iranian feature film “In the Form of Love” directed by Siavash As’adi.

The festival is mainly devoted to promote friendship and cooperation between Indian Subcontinent, the rest of Asia and Spain and along with it the European Union.

At this year’s edition of the festival, two Iranian cineastes are also among the jurors of different sections, namely Film director and producer Mehdi Rahmani and movie critic and researcher Hamed Soleimanzadeh.

Rahmani has made four feature films and participated in many film festivals, winning prizes such as Best Children Feature Film in Asia Pacific Awards, Best Film in Avanca Film Festival, Jury prize in IBBAF Film Festival, Best documentary in Noor Film Festival and many more.

Soleimanzadeh has so far served in the selection committee and jury of many national and international film festivals such as the 72nd Berlin Film Festival, 74th Cannes Film Festival, and 44th Goteborg International Film Festival among others.

SS/