Cannes to screen Iranian titles

Espace Miramar, a major performing arts theater in Cannes, France has scheduled to screen Iran’s features ‘African Violet’ and ‘Dressage’.

The titles will go on the French screen during a program named ‘Zoom Sur Le Cinema Iranien’ (Focus on Iranian Cinema) on October 24, 2019.

Made by Mona Zandi-Haqiqi, the 93-minute ‘African Violet’ is a compassionate drama of strength and reunion about Shokouh, a woman who finds out that her ex-husband, Fereydoun, has been placed in a nursing home by their children.

She and her second husband take an unconventional step to take care of Fereydoun in their own home.

The film stars Fatemeh Motamed-Arya, Saeed Aqakhani, Reza Babak, Mehdi Hosseininia, Roya Javidnia, and Neda Jebraeeli.

‘African Violet’ has gone on screen at several global events, including the 2nd MSP Iranian Film Festival in the US, the 25th Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema in France, the 2019 Edinburgh Iranian Festival in Scotland, and the 24th Busan International Film Festival in South Korea.

It won the special jury award at the 2019 Tripoli Film Festival in Lebanon.

Directed by Pouya Badkoubeh and produced by Samira Baradari, the 95-minute ‘Dressage’ tells the story of Golsa and her friends who, motivated primarily by boredom rather than greed, decide to rob a corner shop.

While evaluating the robbery, they are dismayed to realize that they forgot to bring along the CCTV footage; so one of them must return to the crime scene and the vote falls on Golsa.

Negar Moqaddam, Ali Mosaffa, Shabnam Moqaddami, Houshang Tavakkoli, Ali-Reza Aqakhani, Ali-Reza Sanifar, Jalal Fatemi, Yasna Mirtahmasb, and Siamak Adib are among the cast.

The Iranian feature has won Best First Film Award at the 36th Fajr International Film Festival in Iran, best film award at the 2019 International Oriental Film Festival of Geneva in Switzerland, best debut film at the 4th CineIran Festival in Canada, Golden Gazelle Award for Best Feature Film at the 7th Persian International Film Festival in Australia, a jury award at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival in Germany, Best Director award at the 17th Dhaka International Film Festival in Bangladesh, best film award at the Iranian Film Festival in the Czech Republic, and College Students Prize of the 29th Ciné Junior International Youth Cinema Festival in France.

‘Dressage’ has also gone on screen at several global festivals, including the 2018 Melbourne International Film Festival in Australia, the 21st Shanghai International Film Festival in China, the 11th Granada International Film Festival in Spain, the 65th Sydney International Film Festival in Australia, the 37th Vancouver International Film Festival in Canada, the 2018 Buster Copenhagen International Film Festival for Children and Youth in Denmark, the 16th Pyongyang International Film Festival in North Korea, the 8th Istanbul International Crime and Punishment Film Festival in Turkey, the 32nd Cineuropa Film Festival in Spain, the 2018 Ale Kino International Young Audience Film Festival in Poland, the 16th Chennai International Film Festival in India, the 2019 “Middle East Now” film festival in Italy, the 2nd MSP Iranian Film Festival in the US, and the 19th Yari Iranian Film Festival in Sweden.

ifilm website has published an exclusive interview with director and producer of ‘Dressage’. Click here to watch the report.

MG/AG