‘Retouch’ at London Film Fest

‘Retouch,’ a short film written and directed by film critic and director Kaveh Mazaheri, 36, has reached the lineup for the prestigious annual event of British Film Institute (BFI) London Film Festival to be held in October.

Produced by the Iranian Young Cinema Society, the film is a surprising portrait of a woman, Maryam, who is faced with an unexpected choice one morning. Her husband has an accident at home and she has to choose between life and death, freedom and captivity, the future and the past. Rather than saving the man of her life, Maryam stops helping and watches him die.

Founded in 1933, BFI combines cultural, creative and industrial roles. The upcoming event will be the 61st edition of the BFI London Film Festival whose Best Film Award recognizes inspiring, inventive and distinctive filmmaking.

 Each year, BFI London Film Festival screens over 300 feature films, shorts and documentaries from 50 countries at several venues across the city. This year, the festival will be held October 4-15, Mehr News Agency reported.

‘Retouch’ will enter the Official Competition of the festival. The cast members of the film are Sonia Sanjari, Mohammad Ziksari, Hana Fooladifard, Azadeh Abadpoor, Hanieh Mofleh, Siamak Farsi, Foroogh Azizi, Negin Ahmadi and Shirin Harati.

The film won awards at the 35th Fajr Film Festival (January 30-February 9) and at the previous annual celebration of the Tehran-based House of Cinema. It also won the Silver Dragon award at the 57th Krakow Film Festival in Poland, May 28-June 4.

Born in Tehran, Mazaheri, 36, debuted as a director with the short film ‘Tweezers’ in 2007 and since then has made both documentaries and short films. His documentary ‘A Report of Mina’ (2015) was shown at many international festivals and won awards.

The 60th anniversary edition of the Festival last October presented 397 features and short films and registered a 16% increase in the audience with 195,595 admissions.

Over 800 international and British filmmakers attended to support their films in the program, ranging from global superstars and many of the world’s most established directors, to new talents making their first short film.