Batumi Art-House honors ‘Bandar Band’

The 2021 edition of the Batumi International Art-House Film Festival (BIAFF) in Georgia has honored Iranian movie ‘Bandar Band’.

Produced and directed by Manijeh Hekmat, the Georgian event presented an honorable mention to the Iranian drama.

A 2020 production from Iran and Germany, the 75-minute film is a road movie that depicts flooded landscapes of Iran. The movie is filled with music.

“After a long time, some Iranian women singers are going to enter an unofficial competition in a coffee shop in Tehran. Pregnant Mahla along with the other members of Bandar Band, her husband and one of their closest friends, starts her journey to Tehran from a southern province just when they have lost all they had in the flood. They still keep their hopes alive; however, every road they take leads to a dead-end in a flood-stricken land. They intend to go to Tehran, but they wonder if it is just another turn around a vicious circle,” a synopsis of the film, co-written by Hekmat and Mostafa Zandi, reads.

The cast list of the film includes Reza Koulqani, Amir-Hossein Taheri, Mahdieh Mousavi, and Pegah Ahangarani.

Mongrel Media Company from Canada is the international distributor of the film.

The movie participated in several global events, including the Iranian Film Festival Australia, the Women's Film Festival Dortmund - Cologne in Germany, the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada, the Dhaka International Film Festival in Bangladesh, the Mill Valley Film Festival in the US, the Bosphorus Film Festival in Turkey, the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival, the Films from the South Festival in Norway, Catalyst International Film Festival in Ireland, the Hainan Island International Film Festival in China, and the Boston Festival of Films in the US.

‘Bandar Band’ received some awards, including the Best Film award at the International Competition: Innovation in Moving Images section of the Kolkata International Film Festival in India and NETPAC award at the Ulju Mountain Film Festival in South Korea.

‘What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?’ from Georgia and Germany won the Grand Prix of the 2021 BIAFF, and the best director award went to Kornel Mundruczo for ‘Evolution’ from Germany and Hungary.

The best actress award was presented to Nutasa Kukhianidze for her role in ‘Otar’s Death’ by Soso Bliadze from Georgia, Germany and Lithuania, while Serhii Filimonov received the award for best actor for his role in ‘Rhino’ by Oleh Sentsov from Ukraine, Germany and Poland.

Tomasz Wolski’s ‘1970’ from Poland won the award for best documentary and Ukrainian filmmaker Nikon Romanchenko received the award for best short film for ‘Leopolis Night’.

According to the website of the BIAFF, “The mission of BIAFF is to be an international event designed to enhance cultural exchange, understanding, and collaboration through the screening of new art house-house and non-commercial films from Georgia and abroad”.

The 2021 edition of the BIAFF was held in the Georgian city of Batumi September 18-24.

Read more:

Iranian film ‘Bandar Band’ wins in South Korean fest

‘Bandar Band’ wins big at Kolkata filmfest

MG/MG