The French film distribution company Diaphana has purchased the rights for the Iranian feature film ‘Inversion’ for release in French theaters.
Directed by Behnam Behzadi, the social drama has also been welcomed by other foreign distributors and companies from Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Turkey and China are in talks to buy the film for screening in their countries, said Katayoon Shahabi, managing director of Noori Pictures, responsible for the international distribution of the film.
The movie is about Niloofar, a 35-year-old woman in Tehran who after the air pollution reaches maximum level in the city because of the inversion effect, must decide whether to leave with her ailing mother or stay behind with someone who loves her.
Sahar Dowlatshahi, Ali Mosaffa, Setareh Pesyani, Shirin Yazdanbakhsh and Toufan Mehrdadian are in the cast.
Besides Asghar Farhadi’s ‘The Salesman’ which will have its world premiere in the main competition section of 2016 Cannes Film Festival (May 11-22), ‘Inversion’ is the only Iranian movie to be shown in the festival’s Un Certain Regard section.
Founded in 1989, Diaphana distributes 10 to 12 feature films annually from all countries.
In Cannes Jury
Further, Shahabi, also a film producer, has been selected as one of the nine jury members of the 2016 Cannes Festival along with renowned figures including Hollywood actors Kirsten Dunst and Donald Sutherland.
Presided by the Australian director, screenwriter and producer George Miller, the jury’s task will be to decide between the 21 films in competition section in order to select the winner of the coveted Palme d’Or prize.
Shahabi holds a PhD in French Literature. She started her work in 1982 as a film promoter in Farabi Cinema Foundation which plays an important role at the international level by introducing Iran cinema to the world.
In 1994 she helped to launch Cima Media International (CMI), a semi-private company that produces and markets Iranian films, and television productions. In 2001, Shahabi launched her own company, Sheherazad Media International (SMI); and in 2012 she established her France-based company Noori Pictures to expand her work at the international level.
Her company has introduced to the world films from acclaimed directors such as Rakhshan Bani-Etemad and Asghar Farhadi.
Presented by Noori Pictures, Bani-Etemad’s ‘Tales’ and Vahid Jalilvand’s ‘Wednesday, May 9’ were awarded in Venice Film Festival in 2014 and ‘Nahid’ by Ida Panahandeh in Un Certain Regard at Cannes 2015.
