‘Knock Out’ dir on film’s int’l presence

The director of the Iranian feature ‘Knock Out’ shares latest details on his film’s presence at international film festivals.

In a recent media report, director Gholamreza Ramezani said of his film: “The film’s first temporary and light presence was held at the Panorama section of the Zelin Children and Youth Festival last month and will experience its most important international presence at the Giffoni International Film Festival later this month.”

“In my opinion, along with that of many children and youth in the film industry around the world, this is an A-list festival with authority and the only one which does not rely on the judgment of adult jurors,” he added.

“Each film is divided into separate age categories, with voting similar to the Oscars in that for each section there are around 600 youth judges from around the world which provides anonymous votes along with critique and analysis of films,” the director notes.

‘Knock Out’ has been nominated to compete for the Giffoni festival’s ‘Generator +13’ section dedicated to feature films for audiences in the 13 to 15 age bracket.

The director highlighted the importance of attending the Giffoni festival adding, “I have attended just about every children and youth festival around the world for my other films, but this is my first time attending Giffoni and I believe it is important for all films to compete in this film festival.”

Ramezani also spoke highly of the Berlin Film Festival’s Children’s section and its reputation in the film industry speaking of how “other film festivals look up to it.”

In his final words, the ‘Knock Out’ director concluded, “I never thought that ‘Knock Out’ would make it to Giffoni, as my previous films were more worthy of being there,” adding, “Although the film was made for teenagers, it is not meant for children and teenagers. The film’s audience ranges from a five year-old child to a 70 year-old man.”

The film portrays the story of three teenagers, each striving to become a champion of a reputable cup, although “the champion is not necessarily always the one who wins.”

Nasim Adabi, Afshin Hashemi, Nazanin Ahmadi, Sirous Hemmati, Majid Norouzi, Dorsa Bakhtiar, Sepehrad Farzami, Siavash Assadpour, and Hossein Lotfi are among the film’s cast.

‘Knock Out’ originally premiered at the 31st annual International Film Festival for Children and Youth, bringing home three awards including Best Youth Film.

Ramezani’s film is set to compete at the 49th Giffoni International Film Festival set to be held July 19-27, 2019 in Italy.

MB/AG