Taiwan’s Taichung screens Iranian shorts

The fifth edition of the Taichung International Animation Festival (TIAF) in Taiwan has nominated two Iranian animations ‘Am I a Wolf?’ and ‘Son of the Sea’ at the Short Films section.

Directed by Amir-Houshang Moeen and based on a fantasy book by Afsaneh Shabannejad, the 8-minute ‘Am I a Wolf?’ is a recreation of the classic fable of ‘The Wolf and the Lamb’.

It tells the story of some students who are performing a theater called 'The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats'. Everybody has a role.

They are totally getting carried away by their roles in a way that the border between reality and theatrical performance is now hardly realized.

Meanwhile, the child acting as the wolf in the story is scripted to be defeated. That makes him feel lonely and annoyed.

As he takes his role too serious, a bit of chaos startles the group. In the end, the presence of other children and his friends takes him out of the mood.

‘Am I A Wolf?’ has won the Grand Prize of Light of ASIA at the 15th Indie-AniFest Korea Independent Animation Film Festival and the grand prix of the 12th Paris International Film Festival in France.

Directed by Abbas Jalali-Yekta, the 11-minute ‘Son of the Sea’ tells the story of a man who lives in a house with his wife and the illusion of their son on the wall. This hallucination gradually creates complications in their lives.

The short animation has gone on screen at the 2019 Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France where it won the City of Annecy Award, the 23rd Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Festival in South Korea where it garnered the Best Asian Film award, and the 68th Melbourne International Film Festival in Australia.

Founded in 2015, the TIAF is the only city film festival in Taiwan that solely features animations.

The fifth edition of the TIAF was held on October 11-20 in Taichung, Taiwan.

MG/AG