Iranian ‘Are You Volleyball?!’ en route to Russian Kinolikbez

Iranian short ‘Are You Volleyball?!’ has been scheduled to compete at the Kinolikbez film festival in Russia.

Directed by Mohammad Bakhshi, the film features a group of Arabic-speaking asylum seekers who try to make their way to the border in an English speaking country.

They get into a conflict with border guards every day up until a deaf-mute child becomes a catalyst for better communication between the two sides.

‘Are You Volleyball?!’ has attended several global events, including the Kinolub International Film Festival for Children and Youth in Poland, the FICTS - Federation Internationale Cinema Television Sportifs in France, the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia in Japan, the Children’s Right International Film Festival in Turkey, the Hong Kong International Film Festival, and the Speechless Film Festival in the US.

The 15-minute film has so far won awards such as Best Film Prize from the Al-Nahj Film Festival in Iraq, Best Film and Best Screenplay awards at the Short Film Competition section at the US Forum on Law, Culture & Society, Best Film at the BCN Sports Film Festival in Spain and Best Editor award at the Bucharest ShortCut Cinefest in Romania.

The Kinolikbez is dedicated to independent experimental films of all genres and forms, including fiction, documentary, and animation.

The aim of the festival is the exchange of experience, evaluation and criticism of the young and original thinking directors, actors, and screenwriters.

The main prize of the festival - the prize "Golden Jean-Luc", will be awarded to the winners in the categories of "Full-length feature film", "Short Fiction Film", "Documentaries", "Animation", "Kinoesse" (or "video art").

The 2019 edition of the Kinolikbez is slated for July 3-7 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

MG/AG