The 37th Fajr International Film Festival has announced the names of short movies vying for awards in the competition section of this year’s Eastern Vista section.
In total, 15 Iranian and foreign short films will compete for the top prize in the Eastern Vista (Panorama of Films from Asian and Islamic Countries) of the 2019 program.
The Iranian titles are Private Meeting (Farhad Gharibi), Sacrifice (Mehdi Mohammad Nejadian), and The Sixth String (Bahram Azimi).
Foreign titles include 1982 (Lebanon), A Farewell (China, US), Air (Kazakhstan), Cotton Candy (Georgia), Fish Cracker (Turkey), Gold (Myanmar, Taiwan), Note Zero (Iraq), Short (Azerbaijan), The Camel Boy (France, Tunisia), The Levers (South Korea, United States), and The Wall (India).
The Lineup:
Private Meeting | Iran, 2018
Director: Farhad Gharibi
Synopsis
A young woman, whose husband is doing time in jail, will not do anything illegal to make ends meet for her little daughter and herself. She has another plan on her mind to earn some money.
About Director
Farhad Gharibi studied cinema in Iranian Youth Cinema Foundation and works as a writer and director. He has directed Kav, a short film and Private Meeting is his debut feature.
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Sacrifice | Iran, 2018
Director: Mehdi Mohammad-Nejadian
Synopsis
Two young men go to a cemetery in the midnight to finish an unfinished job.
About Director
Bachelor`s degree in theatre, master`s degree in dramatic literature, and he has written some screenplays such as Gashte Ershad 1 & 2, Kalashnikov, Hot Chocolate.
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The Sixth String | Iran, 2017
Director: Bahram Azimi
Synopsis
In 1926 in Tehran, a tar player is going to compose his new piece of music inspired by the mechanism of the early automobile which was imported to Iran those days.
About Director
Bahram Azimi was born in 1967 in Tehran Cartoonist and Animation Director. Creator of animation characters, scriptwriter and director of more than 500 cultural and commercial animations.
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1982 | Lebanon, 2018
Director: Maria Khayssi
Synopsis
Nai, a nine years old girl, finds a random picture of her dad and starts investigating about it, only to reveal the sore chronicles that have been endured.
About Director
Maria Khayssi is a Lebanese actress and director born in 1991. She graduated from the Lebanese university in cinema and television studies, and theater studies.
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A Farewell | United States, China, 2018
Director: Yifei He
Synopsis
A Farewell follows Danni, a young Chinese girl who comes home to pay her respect to her late grandfather. Out of place in her grandpa’s traditional Muslim environment, she unearths a hidden secret of her past.
About Director
A Beijing native, Yifei is a writer, director, producer based in both Beijing and New York. Yifei has written and directed 4 short films, and produced numerous shorts around the world.
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Air | Kazakhstan, 2018
Director: Aizhana Kassymbek
Synopsis
It is the story of the choice and the growing up of a teenager who has to take care of his paralyzed grandfather, whose state becomes worse and worse day by day.
About Director
Aizhana Kassymbek was born in 1990. Since 2012, she is working at Kazakhflim National Film Studio. In 2018 Aizhana was appointed as a manager of Eurasia Film Market.
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Circle | Russia, 2018
Director: Bekhruz Davlyatbekov
Synopsis
The secret conflict between the grandparents pops up after not tacit words.
About Director
Born in 1992 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, Bekhruz Davlyatbekov is a director, scriptwriter. He is known for Blade of Darkness and Pies (participated in the festival Kinotavr).
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Cotton Candy | Georgia, 2018
Director: Vajiko Chachkhiani
Synopsis
Grandmother while watching the performance, she first time gets into the dialogue with herself, before the moment she did not have time. After entering the dialogue with herself, it is a dangerous dialogue as psychologically it will forma some kind of a conflict…
About Director
Vajiko Chachkhiani (born 1985 in Tbilisi, Georgia) lives and works in Berlin and Tbilisi. Solo exhibitions include Both, Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Siegen, Living Dog Among Dead Lions, Georgian Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale, Italy…
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Fish Cracker | Turkey, 2018
Director: Yiğit Evgar
Synopsis
A brother and sister are forced to leave the place they once called home after the sudden break-up of their parents, and revisit as ‘guests’.
About Director
Yiğit Evgar is born in Izmir, worked within the Art departments for a variety of short and feature films such as, Fish Bone (2015), My Favorite Fabric (2018) and Not Knowing (2018).
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Gold | Myanmar [Burma], Taiwan, 2018
Director: Yong Chao Lee
Synopsis
On a large river somewhere in Myanmar, while mining for gold aboard an old and rusty boat, one of the workers thinks about the promise he once made to his far away love, Lily.
About Director
Yong Chao Lee is born in Burma. He is known for his documentaries Hpakant Jade Life (2015) and Blood Amber (2017).
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Not Zero | Iraq, 2019
Director: Athraa Yaseen
Synopsis
The dream does not capture or restrict whatever hard reality…
About Director
Athraa Yaseen was born in Baghdad in 1985, and graduated of the Faculty of Fine Arts 2013. he awarded the Academy Award for directing the Cairo Festival in Egypt 2016.
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Short | Azerbaijan, 2018
Director: Ruslan Aghazadeh
Synopsis
Sakhavat lives in a village where according to the tradition nobody allows their daughter to get married to someone who has never joined the military service.
About Director
Ruslan Aghazadeh was born in 1987 and graduated from Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts. Short is his first film as a director.
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The Camel Boy | France, Tunisia, 2018
Director: Chabname Zariâb
Synopsis
Somewhere in the desert, a little boy is plunged by force into an intimidating and completely foreign new world: the world of camel racing.
About Director
Born in Kaboul, Afghanistan, Chabname Zariâb publishes her first novel, The Afghan Pianist in 2011 and known for When You Hear the Bells and The Camel Boy in cinema.
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The Levers | South Korea, United States, 2018
Director: Boyoung Kim
Synopsis
A guy accepts a job offer from a stranger on the street. All he has to do is pulling some levers while he’s listening to favorite music through the headphone.
About Director
Boyoung Kim is a Korean animator, graphic designer and independent filmmaker. She is the creator of 10 awards winning animated short films, including Replacement, Impersonation and Prey.
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The Wall | India, 2019
Director: Parasnath Gupta
Synopsis
Kashmir. Fresh rounds in exchange of fire every other day wound both, the Wall of a home on the outside along with that of Hope for Peace built within the hearts of the family.
About Director
MA in Economics from Mumbai University, Parasnath Gupta is known for Khiladi 786 and Welcome to Karachi as a first assistant director.
Presided over by award-winning writer and director Seyyed Reza Mirkarimi, the 37th edition of Fajr International Film Festival will be held in Tehran on April 18-26. For further information, please visit our website at www.fajriff.com, or send us an email at info@fajriff.com. We ask you to carefully read the Festival’s general guidelines for submission and participation.
