Iranian shorts running at Grand River

The 13th Grand River Film Festival (GRFF) in Canada has been screening seven works by Iranian filmmakers.

‘Atari’ by Farhad Fadakar, ‘Borderless’ by Behrad Sahebqarani, ‘The Heavy Shadow of the Crow’ by Behnam Asadollahi, ‘Hermit’ by Omid Mirzaee, ‘Rahmat Creel’ by Behzad Alavi, ‘The Recess’ by Navid Nikkhah-Azad, and ‘Wooden Sword’ by Susan Salamat and Behzad Alavi are the Iranian films on the Canadian screen.

Set in the 1980s, ‘Atari’ tells the story of a teenage boy who is promised an Atari by his father. Using the promise to entice his friends, the boy’s popularity grows as long as the promise is kept.

‘Borderless’ is about a teenage girl named Delaram who has Down’s syndrome, a genetic disorder that has caused her to have a particular appearance and limited verbal expression. As a consequence, normal children and society think less of her. Delaram wants their judgments which, in her view, have created a border between them, to be removed.

‘The Heavy Shadow of the Crow’ is about five new humans growing in a dry and flat desert from under the soil around a crow and a chair, which calls to them.

‘Hermit’ tells the story of a man who lives on his own in an old bus in the desert, struggling to make sense of his day-to-day life. The man, who is also plagued by ghosts, has his isolation interrupted by a lost hiker.

‘Rahmat Creel’ is about a retired man called Rahmat Creel. Every week, he goes to a lake near the city of Zanjan to fish. But his catch is different from the others.

 ‘The Recess’ revolves around Sahar, a 17-year-old student who is determined to skip high school during recess and go to the football stadium to watch the football match between Esteghlal and Al-Ain as part of the AFC Champions League.

‘Wooden Sword’ is about two little boys who meet each other in a green space, and make friends. This is while their fathers have a big problem.

The GRFF is an arts and culture group dedicated to bringing the best independent cinema to the Region of Waterloo.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s edition of the festival will take place online on May 5-8.

MG/AG