Iran releases films in time for Eid al-Fitr

Three Iranian feature films have opened across movie theaters in Iran for the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

Iranian films ‘Subdued’ directed by Hamid Nematollah, ‘Melancholia’ by Morteza Atash-Zamzam and ‘Oxidan’ by Hamed Mohammadi were released at the domestic box office this past week in prelude for the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

‘Subdued’ and ‘Melancholia’ started screening in Iran on June 17, while ‘Oxidan’ opened yesterday.

‘Subdued’ tells the tale of a divorcee, played by Leila Hatami, who falls in love with a restaurant manager, performed by Kourosh Tahami.

The film was welcomed by audiences at the 35th Fajr Film Festival in February, going on to receive positive reviews from critics and winning three awards, including the Crystal Simorgh for best actress for Hatami.

‘Melancholia’ deals with people who suffer from dissociative identity disorder (DID), also known as multiple personality disorder (MPD), a mental disorder characterized by at least two distinct and relatively enduring identities or dissociated personality traits.

The cast of ‘Melancholia’ includes Leila Otadi, Mohamadreza Hedayati, Laleh Eskandari and Nader Fallah.

Comedic film ‘Oxidan’ starts with the illegal immigration of a girl to a foreign country and follows her fiancé’s efforts to bring her back to Iran.

Among the film’s cast are Javad Ezzati, Amir Jafari, Shabnam Moqadami. Shaqayeq Dehqan, Reza Behboudi, Linda Kiani and Ali Ostadi.

The three new films hit cinemas to help increase box-office sales, which saw a decline during Ramadan compared to the earlier months.

In the first quarter of the current fiscal year (starting in March), 16 films grossed over $17 million.

Eid al-Fitr is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting.

AI/AI