US festival to host Iranian features

Two award-winning Iranian features are set to take part in the 2019 Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) in the US.

Ramtin Lavafi’s ‘Hat-Trick’ and Arash Lahooti’s ‘Orange Days’ are set to compete at the festival’s 45th annual event.

‘Hat-Trick’ is a story about a group of middle-class Iranian friends who are on the way back from a party around midnight. While on the road, Farzad who is driving hits something but no one sees what it was.

As they leave the scene frightened and confused while discussing the right thing to do, certain mysteries begin to come to light.

‘Hat-Trick’ has been featured at many international film festivals and was awarded Best Screenplay and Best Actress at the 2018 Fajr Film Festival.

‘Orange Days’ narrates the story of Aban, the only female contractor in the cutthroat and male-dominated orange harvesting industry, who enters a bid to win a large contract. Her efforts remain futile while anyone involved in her story tries to fail her.

Lahooti’s 102-minute feature has also made frequent appearances at international film festivals, recently winning three awards including the Grand Newcomer Award at the 67th Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival in Germany.

The Seattle International Film Festival is an annual event which has been held in the US city of Seattle, Washington since 1976.

Each year, the 25-day festival hosts around 140,000 people, presenting more than 400 features, short films, and documentaries from over 85 countries around the world.

The festival will be held from May 16-June 9, 2019.

MB/AG