Canadian film festival to screen 4 Iranian short animations

The 12th edition of the Hamilton Film Festival (HFF) in Canada has set to screen four Iranian short animations in November.

The festival’s official website recently announced that Iranian animations ‘The Servant’, ‘Ascribed Achievements’, ‘Light Sight’, and ‘Rouhangiz’ will go on the screen at Staircase Theatre on November 8, 2017.

The 9-minute ‘The Servant’ by Farnoush Abedi narrates the familiar story of a master and his servant, the story of a writer’s encounter with a gigantic insect, a cockroach.

The cockroach becomes a servant but gradually begins to realize that it deserves better conditions, so it tries to turn the table and change the game in its own favor.

The man, however, attempts to preserve the current situation but soon realizes that the game has no rules.

‘The Servant’ has grabbed more than 20 awards from different national and international film festivals.

It previously won the Best Animation award at the 33rd Tehran International Short Film Festival in Tehran and the Best Short Film title at the 13th edition of Fantaspoa - International Fantastic Film Festival in Brazil.

The Iranian animation has also won an award at the 14th London Independent Film Festival in the UK and the best animation award of the 2017 edition of the Silver Scream Fest in California, the US.

It also recently bagged Best Short Animation award at Querétaro International Film Festival and the best animation award at the Corto Creativo International Film Festival, both in Mexico.

The 4-minute ‘Ascribed Achievements’ by Samaneh Shojaei is a new experience with grotesque narration and real images.

It tells the story of an old boy, who is dissatisfied with his inborn appearance and decides to end his life; but his failed suicide leads to a new situation in his life.

The 7-minute ‘Light Sight’ by Seyyed-Moslem Tabatabaee is the story of a creature named ME who is enamored by a white light outside of its room.

“The animation has one character and one setting,” Tabatabaee told the media earlier on, adding, “The character tries to escape from the room to get to the light he sees outside.”

The 3D animation has already won a number of awards at scores of international festivals.

The 6-minute ‘Rouhangiz’ directed by Elmira Baqerzadeh will also be competing in the animated short section.

The 12th annual HFF will screen a juried selection of local and international independent films.

The 12th edition of HFF is slated for November 4-12, 2017.

MG/MF