Cannes to screen 5 films by Iranians

The 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in France has scheduled to screen five films by Iranian directors

Slated for May 17-28 in Cannes, the Iranian works will go on screen in five competition and non-competition sections, the festival organizers announced on Thursday.

Without any film in the main competition of feature films, Iran will have runners in three other competition sections, including Un Certain Regard, Short Films and Cinefondation.

Mohammd Rasoulof’s ‘Dregs’ will be Iran’s representative in the Un Certain Regard section.

Rasoulof has already won two prizes at Cannes, including the Un Certain Regard for his ‘Goodbye’ in 2011 and the FIPRESCI Prize for his ‘Manuscripts Don’t Burn’ in 2013.

Alireza Qasemi’s short ‘Lunch Time’ will vie at the Short Films Competition section.

Bahman and Bahram Ark’s short film ‘Animal’ directed, produced by Iranian National School of Cinema will be Iran’s representative in the Cinefondation section.

The Cinefondation Selection has selected 16 films from around 2,600 works submitted this year by film schools around the world. The three Cinefondation prizes will be awarded during a ceremony on May 26.

‘24 Frames’ by the late acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami will go on screen at the 70th Anniversary Events.

The film is a compilation project based on 24 four-and-a-half minute films that he directed during the last three years of his life.

The event’s last film by an Iranian filmmaker is ‘They’ directed by Anahita Ghazvinizadeh.

Moved to the US when she was 22, the Iranian-born director Ghazvinizadeh will also attend the Special Screenings section of the festival.

She has already won a Cinefondation Selection and the Premier Prix awards for her short film ‘Needle’ at the Cannes Film Festival and was selected as one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Cinema in 2013 by the Filmmaker Magazine.

The 70th annual Cannes Film Festival is scheduled to be held May 17-28, 2017.

 MG/HY