Spanish fest to present ‘Song Sparrow’

Iranian-Danish short animation ‘Song Sparrow’ has been scheduled to compete at the Navarra International Film Festival (NIFF) in Spain.

Produced, written, and directed by Farzaneh Omidvarnia, the short animation is about a group of refugees in search for a better life in another place.

They pay someone to smuggle them across the border in a fridge truck.

However, the freezing temperature of the truck turns their hopes for a better future into a fierce struggle for survival.

‘Song Sparrow’ uses puppet animation to tell a tense tale based on an actual event that happened in Austria in 2015.

The people in the animation are of different ages, races, colors, and cultural backgrounds, all of them willing to put their lives on the line in search of a dream.

The short piece has taken part at many global events and won several honors, including best short animation award at the 2019 Giffoni Film Festival in Italy, best animated film award at the Festival Internazionale del Cortometraggio in France, special mention at the MyArt Film Festival in Italy, Best Short Animation Award at the 20th Lebu International Film Festival in Chile, and special mention at the Cortile International Short Film Festival in Italy.

The Iran-Denmark joint production is qualified for Oscar 2021 by winning the award at the Lebu event.

The NIFF is a space for criticism, denunciation, impact and social growth through the dissemination and promotion of cinema.

It aims to be a statement against non-involvement, disregard and lack of commitment, which is the real disease of this century, where we produce more than we can consume, and happiness is subject to the law of supply and demand.

The 2020 edition of the NIFF will be held on September 3-5.

MG/MG