Pakistan to host Iranian film festival

Pakistan’s Islamabad has set to host a five-day festival of Iranian films.

Arranged by the Cultural Consulate at Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Pakistan, the event will be held in Islamabad next week.

The Cultural Central of Iran in Rawalapindi, Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA) and Pakistan National Institute for Folk and Traditional Heritage (Lok Virsa) have also taken part to organize the program.

The opening ceremony of the event is to be held on December 11, 2017, at PNCA in presence of senior officials from Iran and Pakistan.

‘So Far, So Close’, ‘Bodyguard’, ‘A Cube of Sugar’, ‘Crazy Castle’ and ‘Where are my shoes?' will be shown at the Pakistan National Council of Arts on December 11-12 and at Lok Virsa on December 13-15.

‘So Close, So Far’ (2005), directed by Reza Mirkarimi, is about Dr. Alam, a neurologist and a successful surgeon, who is swamped with work and has little time for his son, until the young man is diagnosed with brain cancer.

‘Bodyguard’ (2015), directed by Ebrahim Hatamikia, chronicles the story of a middle-aged man who protects high-ranking political figures. He gets into trouble when a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest approaches the vice president. He then has to evaluate the values that he sacrifices for.

‘A Cube of Sugar’ (2011), directed by Mirkarimi, tells the story of Pasand, a young girl from a traditional Iranian family who is set to marry the son of a family friend who lives abroad. As her entire family arrives to take part in the wedding ceremony, an unexpected event turns the joy of the moment into sadness and sorrow.

‘Crazy Castle’ (2015), directed by Abolhassan Davoodi, depicts a group of people who met on social media and must work together when one of them commits a crime, which if not solved, will impact all of them.

‘Where Are My Shoes?’ (2016), directed by Kioumars Pourahmad, focuses on an old man whose wife and daughter lose touch with him. He suffers a memory loss that is attributed to onset of Alzheimer.

Iranian films are regularly shown in different Pakistani cities in which people show keen interest.

Last year an Iranian film festival was held in Rawalpindi city and another one was held this January in eastern city of Lahore. Both events attracted a large number of audiences.

MG/MG