Dhaka film fest to screen ‘Witness’

Iranian-French short flick ‘Witness’ has made its way to the 19th Dhaka International Film Festival (DIFF) in Bangladesh.

The short film, directed by Ali Asgari, will take part in the DIFF’s “Short & Independent Film Section”.

“A mother helps an elderly woman in a shopping mall in Tehran. A tragedy occurs, brutally confronting her with the impact of her actions,” a synopsis for the 15-minute film reads.

Earlier reports said lineup of the DIFF’s “Cinema of the World” section includes ‘Shahre Qesseh Cinema’ (Cinema Shahr-e Qesseh) by Keyvan Ali-Mohammadi, ‘The Black Cat’ by Karim Amini, Borzou Niknejad’s ‘Amphibious’, ‘Kiarostami and His Missing Cane’ by Mahmoud-Reza Sani, and Kazem Mollaee’s ‘The Badger’, all from Iran, as well as Iranian-Japanese ‘New Moon Hotel’ by Takefumi Tsutsui.

Iranian films ‘Suddenly a Tree’ by Safi Yazdanian, Abbas Amini’s ‘The Slaughterhouse’, and ‘Careless Crime’ by Shahram Mokri will also take part in the “Asian Film Competition” of the DIFF.

Meanwhile, ‘Sunless Shadows’ and ‘Diapason’ will be screened at the festival’s “Spiritual Section”.

The festival’s “Children Film Session” will screen five films from Iran, including ‘That Night’s Train’ by Hamid-Reza Qotbi, ‘The Ocean Behind the Window’ directed by Babak Nabizadeh, and Teymour Qaderi’s ‘Gando’.

The long list of the festival lineup also includes Manijeh Hekmat’s ‘Bandar Band’, and ‘Eye’ by Mahshad Vali.

A number of films made by prominent Iranian director Pouran Derakhshandeh will also be reviewed at the DIFF as part of the “Retrospective” section.

The 19th DIFF will be held on January 16-24, 2021.

SQ/MG