The Seattle Transmedia & Independent Film Festival (STIFF), which commenced on May 1, is host to two Iranian short films.
Saman Hosseinpour’s ‘One-Nil’ (1-0) was screened at Jet City Theater on May 2 and Ali Akbarzadeh’s ‘Killswitch’ is scheduled to be screened at Lucid Lounge on May 8.
The one-minute film ‘One-Nil’ narrates the story of a boy who gets so excited watching soccer that he forgets he is in the middle of a haircut.
Hosseinpour has made the film which is sponsored by the Art Bureau of Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province. The Art Bureau is the cultural leg of Iran’s Islamic Development Organization (IDO).
Killswitch is an award winning documentary about the battle to control the Internet. The movie frames the story of two young ‘hacktivists’, Aaron Swartz and Edward Snowden, who symbolize the disruptive and dynamic nature of the Internet. Killswitch is a collaboration between director Akbarzadeh, producer Jeffrey Horn, writer Chris Dollar and Akorn Entertainment.
STIFF was started in 2005 by a group of filmmakers whose feature film was rejected by the Seattle International Film Festival. Therefore they organized STIFF as a way to champion local and true independent films that were left out of the mainstream film programs. It is dedicated to the exhibition of independent, experimental and zero budget films.
On average, STIFF receives over 600 submissions per year and screens over 125 films as part of the nine-day event. In addition to showing independent films, it includes categories for new media, video games, video art, digital comics, music videos and storytelling with emerging technologies.
The 11th edition of the festival will conclude on May 9.
‘Aghi’ at Italian Event
Another short film from Iran ‘Aghi’ is to be screened at the competition section of Cinema Povero International Film Festival in Italy.
Directed by Yousef Karegar, the movie tells the story of an old man who has been waiting for the return of his lost son for 25 years.
The film has already been screened at the 18th Zanzibar Film Festival in Tanzania, Salisbury University’s Student Film Festival in the US, and Cannes Short Film Corner competition.
In its new presence, ‘Aghi’ will be showcased in the Italian event on July 17.
