Shahram Mokri’s 2 Films at L’Etrange Festival

Two acclaimed feature films by Shahram Mokri are slated to be screened as part of the Focus section at the 24th L’Etrange (Strange) Festival underway in Paris. The 40-year-old director is well known for his experimental style and long single shots. Mystery thrillers “Invasion” and “Fish and Cat” are to be screened on September 9-11, each having two showings, ISNA reported. Post-apocalyptic science fiction “Invasion” is a crime story that occurs during a long eclipse of the sun when an unknown disease spreads. At a sports club, the main character Ali is accused of murdering his teammate Saman and police is going to reconstruct the crime scene. As detectives try to find out the reasons behind the killing, the job gets complicated as the victim’s friends are uncooperative and try to hide the truth from the police.  Written by Mokri and Nasim Ahmadpour, the 2017 movie was screened in the Panorama section of the 68th Berlin International Film Festival in February. The cast includes Abed Abest, Elaheh Bakhshi, Babak Karimi and Pedram Sharifi among others. “Fish and Cat” is the story of a restaurant owner and his two coworkers with a horrific secret that lurks around a group of students who are holding a kite competition near a lake, during the winter solstice. The 2013 production has been screened in over 60 festivals and received the Special Orizzonti Award for Innovative Content from the Venice Film Festival in 2013. Established in 1993, the Strange Festival showcases short and documentary films in genres of horror and thriller. The current festival features Lars Von Trier’s recent movie “The House that Jack Built” at its International Competition section alongside 19 other movies from across the world. It opened on September 5 and ends September 16.