Shahr Int’l filmfest to kick off today

The Shahr (Urban) International Film Festival has been scheduled to kick off today in Tehran.

A lineup of 18 movies, including six films from overseas filmmakers, will compete at the feature film category.

The lineup includes Indian director Pradip Kurbah’s ‘Market’ (2019), which portrays the everyday lives of some people with everyday stories, not dignified as heroes, but nevertheless people who make the lives of each other better.

Ran Jing’s ‘Model’ (2020) from China, to be screened at the event, I about a young Chinese architect who agrees to establish guardianship of the 7-year-old half-brother she has never met under pressure from her estranged father, so that she can obtain a US visa to pursue her dream job.

Another highlight of the lineup is ‘White Building’ (2021) by Neang Kavich from Cambodia. It follows 20-year-old Samnang who faces the demolition of his lifelong home in Phnom Penh and the pressures from family, friends and neighbors which arise and intersect in this moment of sudden change.

Four films from foreign directors will be shown at the documentary feature section.

‘Dystopia’ by Tiago Afonso from Portugal focuses on the changes in the social fabric of the city of Porto from 2007 to 2020. Demolitions, evictions and resettlements affect the Roma community of Bacelo, the inhabitants of Bairro do Aleixo and the sellers at Feira da Vandoma.

The Turkish-Japanese ‘Kodokushi’ by Ensar Altay tells the story of Norihito, who works at a company that cleans up the houses of people who die alone. He begins to question his own life and past due to all the lonely deaths he sees.

Slovakian filmmaker Barbora Sliepková’s ‘Lines’ is an almost neo-realistically stylized footage that shows the everyday hustle and bustle of contemporary Bratislava whose inhabitants, in addition to their own woes, have to cope with the constant grind of urban construction, congested traffic and rising housing prices.

Filmmakers from around the world will also take part in the short fictional, documentary film, and animated movies sections.

The festival is organized every year under the auspices of Tasvire Shahr Institute at the Art and Cultural Organization of the Tehran Municipality.

The eighth edition of the Iranian event is slated for July 18-22.

MG/AG