Iran’s ‘Cold Sweat’ en route to SIFF

The 45th edition of the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) in the US has set to host Iranian feature ‘Cold Sweat’.

Directed by Soheil Beiraqi, the movie narrates the story of a young athlete named Afrouz Ardestani, the captain of Iran women’s national futsal team.

The team gets the chance to play at the finals of the Asian Championship League thanks to the goals Afrouz has scored.

On the day the team is to fly off to Malaysia for the match, Afrouz finds out that her husband has travel-banned her. Now she needs his permission to travel overseas.

The film has so far attended a number of national and global film events, including the 31st Tokyo International Film Festival in Japan, the 29th Stockholm International Film Festival in Sweden, the 9th Cinema and Human Rights Festival in France, the 8th International Film Festival of Panama, the 33rd Washington DC International Film Festival in the US, and the 2019 Glasgow Film Festival in Scotland.

The film has bagged several nominations and awards, including a Crystal Simorgh for the Best Actor in a Leading Role for Amir Jadidi and a Crystal Simorgh for the Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Sahar Dolatshahi at the 36th Fajr Film Festival in Iran.

Baran Kosari won Best Actress Award, Beiraqi grabbed Grand Prize, and the film received The Student Award at the 2018 Carcassonne Film Festival in France. Kosari has also won the Jury Prize at the 2019 Dublin Film Festival in Ireland, the UK.

Besides Jadidi, Kosari and Dolatshahi, Leili Rashidi and Hoda Zeinolabedin are among the cast members.

The SIFF is an annual event which has been held in the US city of Seattle, Washington, since 1976.

Each year, the 25-day festival hosts around 140,000 people, presenting more than 400 features, short films, and documentaries from over 85 countries around the world.

The 45th edition of the SIFF is slated for May 16-June 9, 2019.

MG/MG