Five new films hit Iran cinemas yesterday to begin Nowruz screenings 10 days prior to the start of the New Year (March 21).
‘Crazy Castle’ directed by Abolhassan Davoudi, ‘Absolute Rest’ by Abdolreza Kahani, ‘Sweet Taste of Imagination’ by Kamal Tabrizi, ‘The Fox’ by Behrooz Afkhami, and ‘Iran Burger’ by Masoud Jafari-Jozani started their public screening Wednesday (March 11).
Following the profitable box-office experienced by local cinema, the new releases, which include different genres, are expected to fill theaters with movie fans to give the cinema industry a head start. This year, filmgoers welcomed most of the movies, boosting local industry after several years of slowdown.
While ‘Absolute Rest’ was left out of the 33rd Fajr International Film Festival, the other four new releases were present at the event, held a month ago.
‘Crazy Castle’ was the absolute winner of the festival, bagging four Crystal Simorghs including best film and best director in the main national competition section, as well as the award for the best film by viewers. Now that it is screened at one of the best time of the year, it is expected to hit the box office and be one of the best sellers.
Family Drama
Produced by Bita Mansuri, the thriller tells the story of some youngsters who meet through Internet, but following a trick and bet, they step into a complicated daunting path which endangers their lives. The film stars Tannaz Tabatabei, Bizhan Emkanian, Saber Abar, Nazanin Bayati, Saed Soheili, and Gohar Kheirandish.
Davoudi has successful movies in his resume including ‘Crossroads’, ‘Bread, Love, and Motorcycle 1000, and ‘Magical Trip’.
‘Sweet Taste of Imagination’ is a family drama in which a girl called Shirin (literally meaning sweet) narrates the story of her suitor who is her master as well. Shahab Hosseini, Nazanin Bayati, Parivash Nazariyeh, and Nazanin Farahani are among the actors.
Tabrizi, whose previous film ‘Sensitive Floor’ was one of the best sellers last year and for which he was honored at a ceremony Monday (March 9) at Eivan-e-Shams hall in Tehran, is famous for his movies which pull huge crowds to cinema theaters. His films have almost been approved by critics as well. ‘The Lizard’, ‘Always a Woman Involved’, and ‘Leily Is With Me’ are some of his famous movies.
In ‘Absolute Rest’, a black comedy, Taraneh Alidoosti, Reza Attaran, and Babak Hamidian star. Kahani’s last film, like his previous works, deals with people of the lower class in society.
Behrooz Afkhami, in his last movie ‘The Fox’, has touched upon a political issue: the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists. The spy thriller is set to become a hot release and Afkhami has proved his skills in this area before. His other hits are ‘Saint Petersburg’, ‘The Bride’, and ‘Day of the Angel’.
Humorous
Sixteen years after his last film, Jafari-Jozani is back with ‘Iran Burger.’ The director, who was busy with his epic historical TV series ‘In the Wind’s Eye’ during this period, has made a comedy now with a lot of known actors. The films centers around two rural men in a challenge to win the council election in their villages.
Ali Nasirian, Mohsen Tanabandeh, Sahar Jafari-Jozani, Hamid Gudarzi, Niusha Zeighami, Ahmad Mehranfar, Shohreh Lorestani, Gohar Kheirandish, and Fariba Motekhasses are among the actors of the film.
As Nowruz screenings usually make high sales for films, a quick look at the new movies shows that at least two or three of them have the potential to, if not break the box office record, be placed among the best sellers of the coming year and perhaps even cinema history in Iran.
It is worth mentioning that this year ‘City of Mice 2’ broke the record by selling close to $4 million; a record which may not be reached soon by other films.
