US filmfest to screen Iran’s ‘Just 6.5’

The Washington DC International Film Festival (Filmfest DC) in the US has scheduled to screen acclaimed Iranian feature ‘Just 6.5’ (6.5 per Meter).

Directed by Saeed Roustaee, the social drama, which deals with the issue of illegal drug trade and trafficking, will go on the US screen on October 7 and 11.

In the movie, the city is brimming with drug addicts, many of whom are homeless.

Samad, a member of Anti-Narcotics Police Task Force, is looking for a drug kingpin, Nasser Khakzad.

After several operations, Samad manages to track him down at his penthouse, where he’s committed suicide but is still alive.

Nasser goes through legal steps that lead to his death penalty and execution, but along the way, Samad comes to realize that Nasser was drawn to this path because of broken down social conditions, imposed on him.

Nasser is ultimately executed, and Samad who has been promoted to the station chief, resigns from his post.

He has come to believe all the arrests and executions in all these years, did not have any effect on society’s drug problems.

The end result of all the violence has been that the number of addicts has gone from one million to 6.5 million!

Payman Maadi, Navid Mohammadzadeh, Parinaz Izadyar, Houman Kiaee, Farhad Aslani, Marjan Qamari, and Mohammad Ali Mohammadi are on the cast list of the 134-minute movie.

Premiered at the 37th Fajr Film Festival in Iran, ‘Just 6.5’ opened the 15th Zurich Film Festival in Switzerland, where it won the jury special mention.

“Samad is nobody’s fool. The narcotics officer has seen his share of a drug dealer’s lies and games, and his patience has come to run thin. While searching for the infamous drug baron Nasser Khakzad, he and his colleague Hamid scour the streets of Tehran, turning an overcrowded prison on its head ... Director Saeed Roustaee landed a huge Iranian box office hit with his second directorial work. This great action thriller is far more than just a fast-paced, skillfully staged cat-and-mouse game,” the Zurich Film Festival’s website praised the 135-minute movie.

‘Just 6.5’ also inaugurated the 32nd Tokyo International Film Festival in Japan, where Roustaee received Best Director award and Mohammadzadeh won Best Actor award.

The movie was also nominated at the 13th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) in Australia.

Moreover, the film was screened at several global events, including the Venice International Film Festival in Italy, the Warsaw International Film Festival in Poland, the Chicago International Film Festival in the US, the Sao Paulo International Film Festival in Brazil, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival in Greece, and the Chennai International Film Festival in India.

The “Filmfest DC is the largest and longest running film festival in Washington, DC”, according to the event’s official website.

This year’s edition of the fest, which is being held online over the coronavirus pandemic, kicked off on October 2 and will run until October 11.

Read more:

Film Comment Magazine chooses ‘Just 6.5’

‘Just 6.5’ among 2019 top grossing titles of Indiewire

‘Just 6.5’ director injects hope over coronavirus outbreak

US filmfest screening Iran’s ‘Driving Lesson’

MG/MG