Bengaluru honors ‘Absence’, ‘Two Dogs’

Iranian movies ‘Absence’ and ‘Two Dogs’ have received two honors at the 13th edition of the Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes) in India.

The closing ceremony of the BIFFes was held on Thursday. ‘Absence’ won a runner-up film prize and ‘Two Dogs’ was honored with a special jury mention prize at the Asian film competition.

Directed by Ali Mosaffa, ‘Absence’ is about an Iranian man who visits Prague to investigate his father’s youth in the city.

He finds himself in the shoes of a third man who is almost dead and happens to be of Iranian origin.

The film shows how the heavy security atmosphere coming after the 1953 military coup in Iran forced some to flee the country to seek asylum in Eastern Europe.

Directed by Amir Azizi, ‘Two Dogs’ is about Iman and Sajjad, two young men who are struggling with problems typical for 30-year-olds in contemporary Iran.

Iman is translating Franz Kafka’s ‘Investigations of a Dog’ into Farsi and works as a cab driver, too. His passengers are similar to the characters of Kafka’s story.

Sajjad, Iman’s best friend, is very inhibited because of the way he looks and is trying to obtain enough money for surgery.

They both have dogs that look very similar to their owners. The dogs, not always welcomed by the families, make the men feel less lonely living in traditional Iranian society.

The best Asian film awards at the BIFFes went to Indian drama ‘Not Today’ directed by Aditya Kripalar and Sri Lankan Sinhala drama thriller ‘The Newspaper’ by Sarath Kothalawala and Kumara Thirimadura.

The 13th edition of the BIFFes had different sections, including contemporary world cinema and Asian cinema competition.

According to the official website of the festival, it hosted various sessions for the academic interactions/discourse on different aspects of Filmmaking & Film Appreciation, through Seminars, Workshops, Masterclasses, etc.

The 2022 edition of the BIFFes was held on March 3-10.

MG/MG