Iranian films competing at Venice Film Festival

Two Iranian films have been competing at the New Horizons section of the 75th Venice International Film Festival in Italy.

The Iranian lineup includes ‘Staircase’ written and directed by Mohsen Banihashemi and ‘As I Lay Dying’ directed by Mostafa Sayyari.

The short film ‘Staircase’ tells the story of confrontation of two women who are in a situation which forces them to show their true emotions and intentions.

Sara Bahrami, Toumaj Danesh-Behzadi, Faezeh Yousefi and Kamelia Ghazali are in the cast.

The 20-minute film is having seven screenings and competing against 19 other titles from India, Italy, Russia, France and Brazil.

The 73-minute feature film ‘As I Lay Dying’ is loosely based on a namesake poem by Irish writer William Faulkner.

It tells the story of three brothers and a sister who seek to fulfill the last will of their deceased father.

The cast includes Nader Fallah, Elham Korda, Majid Aqa-Karimi and Vahid Rad.

Founded in 1932 on the island of the Lido in Venice, Italy, the festival is the oldest of its kind and one of the “Big Three” film festivals, alongside the Cannes Film Festival in France and Berlin International Film Festival in Germany.

The 75th edition of the Venice International Film Festival has been slated for August 29-September 8, 2018.

MG/MG