Iran films to vie at Vesoul Int’l Festival of Asian Cinema

Two Iranian movies, ‘Rona Azim's Mother’ and ‘African Violet’, have been selected to compete at the 25th edition of the Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema in France.

Directed and written by Jamshid Mahmoudi, ‘Rona Azim’s Mother’ costars Mohsen Tanabandeh, Mojtaba Pirzadeh, Fatemeh Hosseini, Fereshteh Hosseini, Fatemeh Mirzaei, Alireza Ostadi, and Saeed Changizian.

Produced by the director’s brother, Navid Mahmoudi, the 89-minute flick narrates the story of Azim.

Azim, an Afghan refugee, who works at the municipality at night, lives in Tehran along with his family. Being the head of the entire family and as the eldest brother, he arranges for his brother Farough, and his family along with their mother to be smuggled into Germany.

But at the last moments Farough, shamefully makes his decision known to Azim that he is not going to take their mother who is very attached to her grandchildren.

Azim who feels lonely and is furious, has yet another surprise; he has to choose between his own life and the one he considers the most important in his life.

‘Rona Azim's Mother’ has won some global awards, including Kim Jiseok Award at the 23rd Busan International Film Festival in South Korea and Best Actor award at the 19th Diorama International Film Festival in India.

Selected as the representative of Afghanistan at the 2019 Oscars, the film has gone on screen at some global events such as at the 2019 Gothenburg Film Festival in Sweden.

Directed by Mona Zandi-Haqiqi, ‘African Violet’ stars Fatemeh Motamed-Arya, Saeed Aqakhani, Reza Babak, Mehdi Hosseininia, Roya Javidnia, and Neda Jebraeeli.

Middle-aged Shokouh finds out that her ex-husband, Fereydoun, has been placed in a nursing home by their children. She, and her second husband Reza, decide to take care of Fereydoun themselves, but in their own home.

Doing so, the relationship between Shokouh and Fereydoun is significantly transformed. This new situation affects Reza and Shokouh’s daily life and unexpected changes take place in the lives of all three characters.

Launched in 1995, the Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema (Festival international des cinémas d'Asie) is an annual special-interest film festival focusing on the cinemas of Asia.

The 25th edition of the festival is slated for February 5-12, 2019, in Vesoul, France.

MG/AG