TEHRAN-The 11th Iran Cinema Festival is underway in Paris, France, where 20 Iranian films are shown at the Nouvel Odéon cinema.

The lineup includes feature, short, animated, and documentary films by veteran and young directors, ISNA reported.

Among the feature films is “A Minor,” the last film by the late filmmaker Dariush Mehrjui (1949-2023).

“A Minor” revolves around a young girl named Nadi who is interested in playing, but her father strongly opposes music, and this is where her problems begin.

The movie delves into the depths of human emotions and societal dynamics. Set against the backdrop of Iranian society, it explores the intricacies of human relationships and the challenges faced by its diverse characters. Pardis Ahmadiye and Ali Nasirian star in the lead roles.

There are also movies, participating in the event, that have had a strong presence in international festivals including “Achilles” directed by Farhad Delaram and “Endless Borders” by Abbas Amini.

A joint production of Iran, Germany, and the Czech Republic, “Endless Borders” is a political thriller that happens at the time when the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan reignited the fire of ethnic and tribal wars.

In the movie, the Hazara Afghans, who are under immediate threat from the Taliban, enter Iran illegally. Ahmad is an exiled Iranian teacher in a poor village of Iran close to the Afghan border. When he gets acquainted with a Hazara family, he sees the real face of prejudice and dogmatism in the region. He decides to save a young forbidden love but that decision can have dire consequences for everyone.

The film won the VPRO Big Screen Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in the Netherlands last February.

The 2023 drama “Achilles” tells the story of a young filmmaker who currently works in a hospital and takes a mental patient out for a short ride to find out who she really is. Now he has to decide whether to run away with her or take her back to the hospital.

A joint production of Iran, France, and Germany, Delaram’s feature debut has been shot in various locations; it takes the audience from the capital Tehran to the dried-up Lake Urmia in the northwest of the country, to the Caspian Sea in the north, and Maku, near Turkey’s border. Mirsaeed Molavian, Behdokht Valian, Roya Afshar, and Neda Aghighi play in “Achilles”.

“Won’t You Cry?” by Alireza Motamedi is another film that had its premiere at the 41st edition of the Fajr Film Festival, Iran’s most important film event.

With a cast of prominent actors, it tells the story of a man who has lost the ability to cry, and the effect it has on his life. 

Baran Kosari, Fereshteh Hosseini, Hanieh Tavasoli, Mani Haghighi, Linda Kiani, Nahal Dashti, Amir-Hossein Fathi, and Ali Mosaffa are in the cast among others.

Moreover, the festival hosts two animations from Iran: “Our Uniform” by Yeganeh Moghaddam and “Anita, Lost in the News” written, directed, and produced by Behzad Nalbandi.

“Our Uniform” depicts an Iranian girl who recalls school-age memories through the wrinkles and fabrics of her old uniform, quite literally. 

Rather than using paper, canvas, or a digital medium, the director has painted directly on the cloth used for making school uniforms to tell the story of a character who dreams of a better future.

A production of 2023, the 17-minute animation “Anita, Lost in the News” has been created using puppets made from newspaper clippings. it is about a Kurdish-Iranian family of four who died in the sinking of a migrant boat in the English Channel in 2020. 

At the time of the tragedy, there were ten more people on board than the vessel could hold. One of the victims was nine-year-old Anita, from whose perspective we follow the story.

The documentary “A Band of Dreamers and a Judge” by Hesam Eslami and the short film “It Turns Blue” by Shadi Karamroudi are also among the Iranian productions at this year’s edition of the festival.

“A Band of Dreamers and a Judge” is a co-production between Iran and France, this film delves into the legend surrounding the mountains of Savadkooh in northern Iran. 

Rumored to be filled with buried treasure, ancient pottery, and gold, the area has become a hotspot for illegal excavations by treasure hunters hoping to strike it rich.

“It Turns Blue” tells the story of Raha, a 3-year-old girl, who is beaten by her father during one of her weekly visits, and her aunt, Pari, tries to cover up the violence and manipulate the child’s mind so she remembers the whole incident as a simple game with her father.

Created in 2013, the Iran Cinema Festival takes place every year in June at Nouvel Odéon Cinema, in Paris. Its goal is to introduce independent long, and short narrative and documentary features directed by Iranian or non-Iranian filmmakers whose work has close ties with Iran. Every year, the festival presents a topic or a retrospective that conveys the diversity of Iranian cinema through its directors and main actors.

SS/