3 Short Films From Iran at Palm Springs Int’l Festival

Palm Springs International Short Film Festival and Film Market will be screening three works from Iran during its 2018 edition.

Based in California, the festival will open on June 19 for one week. In screening schedule, the short films have been put in different categories based on their themes. For each category a 90-minute-long program has been allocated, ISNA reported on its Persian website.  

“Animal”, “Gaze” and “Manicure” are the three shorts set for screening at Camelot Theater.

Manicure, a 14-minute film directed by Arman Fayaz narrates the story of a man struggling to cope with the unexpected death of his wife under the watch of local villagers. It is set for screening on June 20 along with other films themed as “Public Spaces, Private Lives”, films about secret lives and personal wishes.

The 15-minute film Gaze by filmmaker Farnoush Samadi is about a woman who witnesses an incident in a bus on her way back from work. She has to decide whether to reveal it or not, according to the website of the festival. It is scheduled for screening on June 22, with other films on the main theme of “Cons and Consequences”.  

In the category there are a collection of films about criminals, victims and the often the amorphous lines between the two, the event’s website, Psfilmfest.org, wrote.

The film Animal directed by brothers Bahram and Bahman Ark shows the indignities of migration; the 15-minute film shows a man who tries to cross a border in the guise of a ram. Its screening is scheduled for June 23 in the category of films themed “Desperate Measures”. Protagonists in the films in this category look for desperate solutions to seemingly desperate and hopeless situations.

A highly competitive festival, Palm Springs is an Oscar, BAFTA and Los Premios Goya-qualifying festival. It has presented more than 100 shorts that have gone on to receive Oscar nominations and/or awards.

The festival also includes the ShortFest Forum, a series of panels, master classes and roundtables to help provide emerging filmmakers with both the knowledge and networking opportunities to further their careers in the key industry.