Portuguese fest honors ‘Am I a Wolf?’

The MONSTRA | Lisbon Animation Festival in Portugal has awarded Iranian short title ‘Am I A Wolf?’.

Directed by Amir-Houshang Moeen, the Iranian animation received the special award at the Portuguese event.

Based on the fantasy book by Afsaneh Shabannejad, ‘Am I a Wolf?’ is a recreation of the classic fable of ‘The Wolf and the Lamb’.

In the short animation, a number of students 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 seriously, a bit of chaos startles the group. In the end, the presence of other children and his friends next to him take him out of this atmosphere.

The 8-minute animation has taken home numerous awards from global events such as the 11th Tehran International Animation Festival in Iran, the 22nd Media Arts Festival in Japan, the 6th Tripoli Film Festival in Lebanon, the 10th International Animation Film Festival “Golden Kuker – Sofia” in Bulgaria, the 2019 Insomnia International Animation Film Festival in Russia, the 12th Paris International Animation Film Festival in France, the 2019 Indie-AniFest - Korea Independent Animation Film Festival in South Korea, won a nomination at the fifth Taichung International Animation Festival in Taiwan, the 62nd International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film - DOK Leipzig in Germany, and the 5th Animation Marathon in Greece.

The animation has gone on screen at several global events, including the 2019 International Children’s Film Festival in Bangladesh, the 29th annual World Festival of Animated Film Zagreb – Animafest Zagreb – in Croatia, the 2019 Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France, the 2019 Zlin Film Festival in the Czech Republic, the 62nd International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film in Germany, the 14th Animest International Animation Film Festival in Romania, the 2019 Chaniartoon - International Comic & Animation Festival in Greece, the 2019 Fantoche International Animation Film Fest in Switzerland, the 15th World Festival of Animated Film Varna in Bulgaria, the 4th Turku Animated Film Festival in Finland, the 8th Kuandu International Animation Festival in Taiwan, the 43rd Cinanima International Animated Film Festival in Portugal, and the 22nd Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People in Greece.

Held since 2000, the MONSTRA has celebrated short films and provided an opportunity for people with different artistic backgrounds to meet.

The 20th edition of the fest was rescheduled for May 25-May 31, but was held online due to the coronavirus pandemic.

MG/MG