Norway’s RIFF festival screening ‘Elephantbird’

Iranian-Afghan short animation ‘Elephantbird’ has made it to the R.E.D. International Film Festival (RIFF) of Norway.

The Iranian Youth Cinema Society reported that ‘Elephantbird’, directed by Amir-Masoud Soheili, is being screened at the 5th edition of the Norwegian event.

“The last wish of an old Afghan man is to give his elephant-bird (turkey) to his grandchild, but this simple wish is hard to realize,” a synopsis for the film reads.

‘Elephantbird’ attended several international festivals, including the 23rd AVANCA - International Meeting of Cinema, TV, Video and Multimedia in Portugal, the 14th Batumi International Art-House Film Festival in Georgia, and the Sedicicorto International Film Festival in Italy.

Launched in 2015, the RIFF is settled on a farm overlooking Eina Lake, just outside Oslo.

Its mission is to “build a bridge between the different fields of performing- and visual art, and the film industry; hence the subtitle: dance- art- cinema.”

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the festival is being celebrated in two versions.

The first version is a Drive-in festival at the farm in Einawood, which kicked off on July 3 and will continue until July 10.

The second version is a virtual festival through a new on-line magazine where audiences would have access to the films during all July and until August 3.

Earlier reports said Iran’s animated short film ‘Echo’ is also attending the Norwegian event.

SQ/MG