Iran’s globetrotting ‘The Recess’ to appear at Crossroads fest

Iranian 12-minute short film ‘The Recess’ is set to appear at the official selection of the 15th Crossroads International Short Film Festival in Turkey.    

Written, produced and directed by Navid Nikkhah-Azad, ‘The Recess’, which has been translated into ‘El Recreo’ in the Spanish language, will make its 42nd international screening at the Crossroads fest.

‘The Recess’ is about a 17-year-old school-girl who runs away from school to watch the football match of her beloved club.  

Sahar, along with three of her friends, is planning to exit the school during the break in order to watch the match between Esteghlal FC and Al Ain FC at Azadi Sports Complex.

Mozhan Kordi, Reyhaneh Naieean, Niloufar Shokouhinia, and Ghazal Khalili are on the cast list.

‘The Recess’ is the recipient of numerous awards from previous participations, including the Best Performance Award for Kordi at the Living Skies Student Film Festival in Canada in March, and the Best Short Film Award at the Oxford Film Festival (OxFilm) in Mississippi, the US, also held in March.

The short drama received the award for best short film at the 24th Johns Hopkins Film Festival, the 12th IndieFEST Film Awards, as well as the 15th San Francisco Frozen Film Festival, all held in the US.

Recently, ‘The Recess’ appeared at the 11th Festival Nacional de Cine Estudiantil (FENACIES) in Uruguay’s capital Montevideo, the 28th Adana Golden Boll International Film Festival in Turkey and the 43rd Lugo Film Week (SICA) in Spain.

On December 14, 2021, Nikkhah-Azad’s film will also go on screen at the International Social Film Festival of Castilla-La Mancha in Spain.  

The Turkish festival, which has been on the theme of “Intercultural Dialogue and Migration” for many years, is taking place on the theme of “Gender Equality” this year, which is the fifth target of UNDP.

The 2021 edition of the event will host the film until October 16 in Istanbul.

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