TEHRAN-The Baikal International Film Festival of Documentary and Popular-Science Films “People and Environment” has picked two films from Iran in the line-up for its 23rd edition, due to be held from September 17 to 27 in Irkutsk, Russia.

The feature film “Life & Life” directed by Ali Ghavitan and the short documentary “Standing with the Wolf” co-directed by Saeed Nabi and Maryam Khadivi are the Iranian films selected for the upcoming festival, Mehr reported.

“Life & Life” follows a teacher who is concerned about the students who have not attended online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. She decides to visit them. She buckles her four-year-old daughter into the car and takes off for the students’ houses. Her goal for this trip is to look in on the students, but she has another purpose. She tells her daughter about her own life, and the girl begins to understand the world as she meets other people.

Hadi Hashemi, Hoda Moghaddam-Manesh, Mehraban Darvishzadeh, Fereshteh Hamyar, Yousef Ahmadi, Amirali Rahimi, Hannaneh Jaafari, Armin Karbalai, Sadra Khoramabadi, and Abbas Darvishzadeh are in the cast of the 80-minute drama, which will be screened in the event along with two other feature films from Russia.

“Standing with the Wolf” is a 30-minute documentary about a park ranger called Jalali who has been hit by more than 90 lead bullets. This man, who is loyal to the country’s environment, has come to the conclusion that he should teach in schools and that education is a practical weapon to preserve the environment.

The Iranian documentary will be screened along with seven documentary movies from Romania, Russia, and the UK.

Out of more than 180 applications to this year’s festival competition program, 24 movies have been selected: eight documentaries, five popular science, three feature, and eight animated films. Besides the Iranian films, works from Russia, Germany, Romania, South Korea, the UK, Portugal, and Canada will be screened at the event.

Baikal International Film Festival of Documentary and Popular-Science Films “People and Environment” named after V. Rasputin has been taking place in Irkutsk since 1999 (annually since 2007). The festival was founded by The Union of Filmmakers of the Russian Federation and its Irkutsk regional branch and it’s held with the support of The Ministry of Culture.

The festival is designed as a platform that encourages to reflect on the complex relationship between people and nature and educates the younger generation. Therefore, along with competitive and thematic programs that attract different viewers, the focus is always on working with educational institutions – schools and universities.

It aims to raise environmental awareness through cinematography. As part of the festival, business events will be organized at which the most pressing environmental problems and the role of films and directors in solving them will be discussed.

SS/SAB