Iran films going on Strasburg screen

The 3rd edition of the International Strasburg Film Festival in the US has been screening a lineup of six works from Iran.

The lineup includes ‘The Badger’, ‘Dedicated to Tehran’, ‘The Eleventh Step’, ‘The Rotation’, ‘The Snow Calls’, and ‘The Wound’.

Directed by Kazem Mollaee, ‘The Badger’ narrates the story of a 40-year-old woman who is facing a difficult challenge in her private life.

Soudeh’s 11-year-old son, Matiar, gets kidnapped as she is about to start a second marriage. After considerable search and effort, she decides to ask for the ransom money from her ex-husband, Peyman. How much will this incident challenge her certainties?

Made by Ali Bateni and Armin Tahmasbi, ‘Dedicated to Tehran’ is a 13-minute film telling the story of several Iranian families, who are thinking about their son who has joined the combatants in the frontline during the war when Tehran is targeted by Iraqi missiles.

The 11-minute ‘The Eleventh Step’ by Maryam Kashkulinia follows a lion cub, born in a zoo, which lives in a cage that is only ten steps long. On the eleventh step he bangs his head against the bars, but one day the zookeeper leaves the cage door open.

Made by Hazhir Asadi, the 7-minute ‘The Rotation’ shows that there is a war between two tribes on claiming the sun in the sky. As a result of that war, the sun is annihilated and the volcano erupts. The two tribes now are dead and a new sun has been made, both done by the lava. Several centuries pass and humans are still at war to claim the sun in the sky.

Directed by Marjan Khosravi, the 49-minute ‘The Snow Calls’ is about Mina, who has three daughters but she lives in a society where giving birth to a boy is considered superior. Mina is blamed because of this.

Written, produced and directed by Sahar Nourmonavvar, ‘The Wound’ is a 12-minute film about a 9-year-old girl who menstruates after an earthquake. Having lost her family in the quake while she knows nothing about menstruation, she thinks she has been wounded.

This International Strasburg Film Festival encourages filmmakers to submit their works of art so that all people can enjoy their creativity.

The 2021 edition of the online festival has been scheduled for November 13-December 11.

MG/AG