Bengaluru to focus on Iran cinema

The 11th edition of the Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFES) in India has set to focus on Iranian cinema with screening six features.

A collection of six films have been selected to go on screen at the Country Focus section of the event, the organizers announced recently.

The Iranian lineup includes ‘Kejal’ by Nima Yar, ‘Sara & Aida’ by Maziar Miri, ‘Tale of the Sea’ by Bahman Farmanara, ‘The Villa Complex Residents’ (Villa Residents) by Monir Qeidi, ‘Wild Jonquils’ by Rahbar Qanbari, and ‘Yellow’ by Mostafa Taqizadeh.

‘Kejal’ portrays a young female porter living in the border regions in the Iranian province of Kurdistan. As her family struggles with financial problems, she decides to take a masculine job.

She goes across the border and brings heavy contraband goods on her back for sale. The film is made on true events.

The film cast includes Mayam Boubani, Nastaran Mohammadi and Samira Zokaee who portrays the porter girl.

‘Sara & Aida’ narrates the story of two intimate friends. A brief synopsis for the flick teases, "When the reputation of one of them is in danger, they both try to help solve the situation. But how far will they go to support each other?"

Ghazal Shakeri, Pegah Ahangarani, Mostafa Zamani, Saeed Changizian, Tina Pakravan, and Shirin Yazdanbakhsh star in the movie.

‘Tale of the Sea’ tells the story of Taher Mohebbi who is a well-known writer. Witnessing a violent murder, he breaks down and spends three years in a mental institution.

After release he is told that things are just as they were before, but his relentless hallucinations make him want to return to the institution.

“Where I come from, metaphors have replaced reality. The story of Taher Mohebi and his descent into madness is the only way I could tell the story I wanted to tell. One man’s madness is a metaphor for the surreal lives of a whole nation,” a tag line for the movie reads.

‘The Villa Complex Residents’ depicts Iraq-imposed war on Iran in a unique way.

The movie chronicles events facing wives of Iran army commanders at the time of the Iraq-Iran war.

‘Wild Jonquils’ is set in rural heights where a school receives a warrant from the Ministry of Education, stating that if the required capacity is not fulfilled, the school should shut down.

The teacher decides to go to the neighboring villages, heights and forests in person to convince all the parents that getting educated is a must for their children.

When he falls ill, his fiancée steps forward to assist him. But everything gets more complicated and eventually one of the students volunteers to take responsibility for keeping classes running smoothly.

‘Yellow’ tells the story of four young Iranians Nahal, Hamed, Faramarz, and Niki who are the members of a scientific genius team trying to go abroad.

Three days before their journey to Italy, Hamed exhausts because of his unknown illness and it shocks the team tremendously. The crisis reveals layers of each of the four in the past and present, and leads to new decision-making and judgment.

The film poses a question: what each of us would do and choose if we were in the Iranian scientists’ place?

It features popular Iranian actors such as Bahram Radan, Sareh Bayat, Mehrdad Seddiqian, Bahareh Kian-Afshar, Shahram Haqiqatdoust, Alireza Ostadi, Hossein Mehri, Anahita Dargahi, Morteza Taqizadeh, Amir-Ali Nabavian, Ali Salehi, and Matin Sotoudeh.

The Bengaluru International Film Festival is comprised of three main categories of Asian Cinema, Indian Cinema and Kannada Cinema.

The 11th edition of the BIFFES will be held in India on February 21-28, 2019.

MG/MG