The 37th Fajr International Film Festival has announced the full line-up of Iranian films for Festival of Festivals (Cup of Divination) section.
Overall, 14 foreign films and 4 Iranian films will be shown during this year’s edition. Movies that have garnered awards in prestigious world festivals can make it to the Festival of Festivals, which is one of the main sections of Fajr.
The Lineup:
Graveless | Iran, 2018
Director: Mostafa Sayari
Cast: Majid Aghakarimi, Elham Korda, Nader Fallah, Vahid Rad, Majid Agha Karimi, Mohammad Rabbani
Synopsis
To fulfill the last will of their recently departed father, three brothers, joined by their only sister, drive to a village in the middle of nowhere where he asked to be buried. The heat and the long journey make the experience unbearable, especially when the body begins to rot. This is the time for the eldest brother, exhausted and angry, to vent out the long and unspoken grudge against the youngest brother who looked after the father for years.
About Director
Mostafa Sayar, born in 1989, Mashhad, graduated in Psychology. He started working in cinema by directing short films and documentaries. The Graveless is his debut feature. The film won awards at the 75th Venice Int’l Film Festival, Italy 2018 (Orizzonti Competition Section(, 54th Chicago Int’l Film Festival, United States 2018 (New Directors Competition), and 23rd Kerala Int’l Film Festival, India 2018 (Int’l Competition Section).
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Orange Days | Iran, 2017
Director: Arash Lahooti
Cast: Ali Mosaffa, Hediyeh Tehrani, Mehran Ahmadi, Alireza Ostadi, Zhila Shahi, Sadaf Asgari, Roya Hosseini, Lili Farhadpour
Synopsis
When Aban – tough, self-sufficient, and the only woman contractor in the orange fields of northern Iran – beats out the male competition for a big job, the operation seems to get off to a rocky start. But Aban won’t let go without a fight.
About Director
Born in Tehran in 1982, Arash Lahooti is a filmmaking and editing graduate. He is a director, producer, and editor of documentary films and a member of the Iranian Union of the Documentary Filmmakers. His first feature documentary is Trucker and the Fox which screened in over 45 festivals and received 9 awards.
The awards include Toronto International Film Festival, Canada 2017; Calgary International Film Festival, Canada 2017; Zurich Film Festival, Switzerland 2017; Mostra Internacional de São Paulo, Belize 2017; TOFIFEST International Film Festival, Poland 2017; Malatya Film Festivali, Turkey 2017; Med Film Festival, Italy, 2017; Internationales Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg, Germany 2017; and Grand Newcomer Award Mannheim-Heidelberg.
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Mermaid | Iran, 2016
Director: Amir Masoud Aghababaeian
Cast: Amir Aghaee, Pantea Mehdinia, Shahrokh Foroutanian, Sirous Kahouri Nejad, Asghar Hemmat
Synopsis
Younes is a surviving member of a divers team in Iran-Iraq war who lives by the shores of the Persian Gulf. He has to deal with water pollution from oil companies.
About Director
Amir Masoud Aghababaeian, born in 1973, Isfahan, has been editing, script writing and directing documentary and fiction films. He graduated in drama and has made a number of short films and documentaries which were screened in international festivals.
The awards include Qingdao International Film Festival, China 2017: Jury Special Award, Golden Rooster.
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Beloved | Iran, 2018
Director: Yaser Talebi
Synopsis
A documentary movie about the real life of an 80-year-old woman who lives alone in the nature with her cows.
About Director
Yaser Talebi was born in 1982, Tehran. He has BA in Cinema (Editing). Some of his documentaries include, Sky Is Not Empty, My Heart, Water City, Stopping Dam, and his TV movies Passage, A Covenant With You, Test, Signs, Children, Road of Perdition.
The awards include 69th Berlin Film Festival, Culinary Cinema, Germany 2019; IDFA, Netherlands 2018: Competition section, Selected among the Top 10 audience awards; Big Sky Film Festival, United States 2019: Best Feature competition Section; 16th Human rights – Docudays, Ukraine 2019; and Hot Docs Film Festival, Canada 2019: Competition Section.
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.
