Palm Springs fest adds 5th Iran title

The 25th edition of the Palm Springs International ShortFest in the US has added ‘Ceremony Night’ as 5th title from Iran to the competition lineup.

Directed by Behnam Abedi, the Iranian short film is about a worker who falls from the top of a Ferris wheel an hour before the fair is opened.

As he is taken to the hospital, the other workers keep preparing for the big opening ceremony until one worker starts to raise questions.

‘Ceremony Night’ is a 16-minute film produced by Abedi, Yasaman Moradi and Pouyan Sedqi in 2019.

Pejman Yavari, Amir-Ahmad Qazvini, Farshad Ershadi, and Navid Nouri are among the principal cast of the film.

The film, Abedi’s fourth work after ‘Portrait’, ‘Dark Light’ and ‘Whales’, will go on the Palm Springs screen on June 22.

According to the earlier reports, ‘Dissect’ by Siavash Shahabi, ‘Birthday Night’ by Omid Shams, ‘Umbra’ by Saeed Jafarian, and ‘The Role’ by Farnoush Samadi, all from Iran, are also in the competition lineup.

The Oscar-qualifying event is “the largest short film festival and market in North America,” according to the gala’s website.

The 25th edition of the event will take place in the city of Palm Springs in California on June 18-24, 2019.

MG/MG