Four films from Iran will take part in the 19th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, slated for November 13-29 in Tallinn, Estonia.
The Iranian productions include ‘Avalanche’ directed by Morteza Farshbaf, ‘Two’ by Soheila Golestani, ‘The Man Who Became a Horse’ by Amir-Hossein Saqafi and ‘Night Shift’ by Niki Karimi.
Competing in the main competition section, ‘Avalanche’ is an introspective dream in the sleepless days of a lonely woman.
Homa, a nurse in a private hospital, has a recurrent dream that brings her peace. An unprecedented snowstorm and a 10-day nightshift deprive her of the dream and toss her in deep, depressing insomnia.
The cast includes Fatemeh Motamed-Arya who has been nominated for the best performance (female) award at the 9th Asia Pacific Screen Awards – the winner will be announced on November 26 in Australia.
Directorial Debut
‘Two’ will vie in the Tridens First Feature Film Competition section.
Marking its world premiere, the film is produced by well-known actor Parviz Parastuee, who is also in the cast.
Golestani’s directorial debut, which the festival describes as “a fine example of the modernized visual language of Iranian cinema,” looks at the efforts of a cleaning woman to communicate with a man who has started a family in Germany and has only returned to Iran to sell his former home, with which he has lost all emotional connection.
Parastuee, Mahtab Nasirpour and Mehraneh Mahintorabi are among the actors.
In the forum section, ‘The Man Who Became a Horse’, Saqafi’s third feature film, will be screened.
The film is based on Anton Chekhov’s short story ‘Sorrow’, however, it takes the narrative a step further to explore in greater depth the extremely lunatic state of a man’s inner world taken over by self-pity.
Mahmoud Nazaralaian, Melisa Zakeri and Mazdak Mirabedini are in the film.
Juror and Filmmaker
Karimi’s fourth feature film ‘Night Shift’ will be shown in the panorama section.
The tense family drama centers on a young wife and mother. The story unravels when she interprets her husband’s strange behavior as proof that he might be plotting against her.
Mohammadreza Foroutan, Leila Zare’, Amirhossein Arman, Amir Aqaee, Niki Karimi, Sahar Qoreishi, Hossein Pakdel, Akbar Rahmati and Gohar Kheirandish are among the cast.
Karimi is also one of the jurors of the main competition section.
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival is a unique event for feature animated, short and children/youth films. It presents Estonian audiences a comprehensive selection of world cinema in all its diversity.
