Screening 5 films, Iran will be present at the 19th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), taking place December 11-19, in India.
This acclaimed festival will showcase a visual extravaganza of 140 films. With 10 different film packages and sections, the film festival can boast of extremely high diversity sure to please cinema goers.
According to the Indiawest website, the exalted Golden Crow Pheasant award will be awarded to the top film in the international competition section. Two Iranian films, ‘The Bright Day’ and ‘Oblivion Season’, will compete in this category as well as two feature films from Morocco, four from India and one from Bangladesh, Brazil, Japan, Argentina, Mexico and South Korea each.
‘The Bright Day’ by Hossein Shahabi is a 2013 drama telling the story of Roshan, a teacher in a kindergarten, who intends to save the life of the father of one of her students’, who is accused of unintentional homicide.
‘Oblivion Season’ by Abbas Rafei is about a girl who starts a new life after marrying her loved one but leaving the shadow of her dark past is not as easy as it seemed.
Iranian cinema will also partake in the World Cinema section with three more movies: ‘Melbourne’ by Nima Javidi and ‘What’s the Time in Your World’ by Safi Yazdanian, and ‘Track 143’ by Narges Abyar.
‘Melbourne’ is a tragic story of a young couple on their way to Melbourne in pursuit of higher education. The journey is deterred by the untimely death of a baby left in their care during their preparation for departure. An intensely gripping suspense story in which the outcome and the truth is blurred, this lauded film has made headway into the film festival awards with the Golden Pyramid Prize for Best Film (Cairo International Film Festival), Best Script Prize (Stockholm International Festival), and the Silver Astor Award for Best Actress (Mar Del Plata International Festival).
‘What’s the Time in Your World’ is the story of Goli who after 20 years of living abroad in Paris decides to return on an impulse to her hometown Rasht, Iran. A local frame maker, Farhad tries to welcome her; however she has no memory of him even though he appears to know her very well. The film won the FIPRESCI’s Award at the 19th Busan International Film Festival, South Korea.
‘Track 143’ centers on Olfat, a woman who lives in a remote village with her son and daughter. Their peaceful life is shaken when Olfat’s son disappears in the war. The film is about the long wait of Olfat for her son’s return. The movie has been highly praised locally, won a number of awards in Iran, and been at some international festivals as well.
