Asian festival to screen ‘21 Days Later’

Iranian movie ‘Twenty-one Days Later’ directed by Mohammad-Reza Kheradmandan has been scheduled to go on screen at the 11th edition of the Asia-Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) in Australia.

‘Twenty-one Days Later’ starring Sareh Bayat and Hamidreza Azarang, is a melodrama about a teenager who has to struggle with several challenges in order to fulfill his dad’s wishes.

The film’s synopsis reads, “It’s always the same! The last time the sky started getting cloudy, the weather became so wild that the storm could have pulled down the trees. It was pouring rain, the birds were screaming around their nests. One of the guys said he saw the sun flashing dim and light once or twice.”

The Iranian film premiered at the ‘Soda-ye-Simorgh’ section of the 35th Fajr Film Festival.

Grabbing a nomination for Best Visual Effects Crystal Simorgh, ‘Twenty-one Days Later’ was among the most popular audience picks at the 35th edition of Iran’s Fajr Film Festival.

The Iranian House of Cinema (Khaneh Cinema) has submitted the film with eight other Iranian titles to the 11th APSA.

Earlier in July, Iran’s Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA) submitted Mohammad-Ali Talebi’s ‘The End of Dreams’ as well.

In 2016, ‘Starless Dreams’ by Mehrdad Oskouei won best feature documentary at the APSA, while ‘Daughter’ by Reza Mirkarimi, ‘Muhammad, the Messenger of God’ by Majid Majidi, and ‘Breath’ by Narges Abyar were nominated in different categories.

Covering one-third of the Earth, the 70 countries and areas of the Asia Pacific stretches from Egypt in the west to the Cook Island in the east, from Russia in the north to New Zealand in the south.

They are home to 4.5 billion people and produce half the world’s film.

Established in 2007 and headquartered in Brisbane, Australia, APSA, an international cultural program driven by Brisbane City Council through Brisbane Marketing is endorsed by UNESCO and FIAPF – International Federation of Film Producers Associations.

The 11th APSA will present the awards to the winners in Brisbane on November 23.

MG/MG