Iran-Italy film to screen in Locarno fest

Feature film production of Iran and Italy ‘Just Like My Son’ is set to screen at Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland‎.

The 2018 edition of the prestigious Swiss film event, running from August 1 to 11, will host Italian director Costanza Quatriglio’s feature in out-of-competition.

The drama with a multinational cast and crew tells the story of Ismail who, after escaping persecution in Afghanistan when he was still a child, finds himself dealing with the senselessness of the war and the history of his people.

Around 40 percent of the flick was shot in Iran. Italian director Quatriglio has her new drama’s filming lined up in Iran with the movie marking the first sizeable Italian production to shoot in the country after five decades.

The Italian, Persian and English-language film is about an Afghan teenage boy who escapes civil war.

The film has production partners from Italy, Iran, Belgium and Croatia.

“Shooting in Iran was crucial for us as it’s the only safe country with a strong community of Hazara refugees,” an Italian producer said about the co-production in Iran.

Hazaras are an ethnic group native in Afghanistan.

AG/AG