Movies scheduled for Norouz (Persian New Year) screenings hit Iranian cinemas on Wednesday, a week ahead of the turn of the year and beginning of spring on March 20.
The six newly released films (three comedies, two social dramas and a political trailer) will blow a breath of fresh air in movie theaters which had fewer audiences in the past month compared to the rest of the outgoing year, which holds the record for the highest grossing with a total sales of $48 million, more than double the amount of the whole box-office in the previous year.
Two of the films for Norouz started screening sooner than the others. ‘The Good, the Bad, the Gaudy’, the debut film by comedy screenwriter Peyman Qasemkhani, went on screen last month immediately after it was selected as the second best film by viewer’s choice at the 35th Fajr Film Festival (FFF) in mid-February, ISNA reported.
Showing a strong performance in the box-office in its first month, the comedy made almost $1.5 million and is expected to be among the bestsellers of the coming year.
Popular actors Hamid Farokhnejad, Pejman Jamshidi, Sam Derakhshani, Vishka Asayesh, Amir-Mehdi Jule, Azadeh Samadi and Niusha Zeighami are in the cast.
The story is about a movie director who is under pressure from his film producer to use “two money-making actors” who he believes are the worst choice for his film, but will help sell the movie.
Another movie which started screening last week is ‘Three Strangers’ directed by Mehdi Mazloumi.
A critical comedy, it tells the story of three spies coming to Iran whose confrontation with various people creates comical situations.
The cast includes Amin Hayai, Mohamadreza Sharifinia, Majid Salehi, Sahar Ghoreishi, Leila Otadi, Borzu Arjmand, and Hamid Lolaei among others.
The third comedy, released yesterday, is ‘Patrol 2’ by Saeed Soheili, which was also popular at the 35th FFF.
A sequel to the controversial film ‘Morality Patrol’ (2012), Soheili’s new film follows the story of the main three characters in the original movie who are looking for decent jobs; however, they get involved in corruption.
The cast includes Hamid Farrokhnejad, Saed Soheili, Poulad Kimiaei, Tarlan Parvaneh and Bahareh Afshari.
Fajr Festival Winner
‘Midday Story’ which also started screening on Wednesday, directed by the young filmmaker Mohammad Hossein Mahdavian, 35, is another potential film to end up in the bestsellers list as it was the total winner at the 35th FFF, winning five major awards including the best film by viewers’ choice and receiving rave reviews from critics.
A political trailer, it deals with the banned Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) that carried out many terrorist attacks during the 1980s to overthrow the ruling establishment after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The movie features Mehrdad Seddiqian, Ahmad Mehranfar, Hadi Hejazifar, Linda Kiani and Javad Ezzati among others.
One of the two social dramas is ‘Abajan’ directed by Hatef Alimardani which was also premiered at the 35th FFF.
The movie revolves around the life of a family in contemporary Iran, witnessing their happiness, sadness and their confrontations during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.
Fatemeh Motamed-Arya,Shabnam Moghadami, Saeed Aghakhani and Hamid Reza Azarang are in the cast.
‘One Special Day’ by Homayoon As’adian is another drama which tells the story of a boy named Hamed who has to make a hard decision when his sister has to undergo a heart procedure.
The film has Mostafa Zamani, Farhad Aslani, Parinaz Izadyar and Mohsen Kiaei in the cast.
Iran cinema in the year saw several records in the box-office. Six films grossed over $3 million and 30 movies sold between $250,000 and $2 million, unprecedented in the country’s cinema history.
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