Iran movie ‘Lerd’ to compete at Cannes festival

Iranian film ‘Lerd’ is to be screened at the 70th Cannes Film Festival in France.

Directed by Mohammad Rasoulof, the movie will be presented at the Un Certain Regard competition section of the event.

Rasoulof has two other films in the previous sections of the French festival including ‘Goodbye’ and ‘Manuscripts Don’t Burn’. Both films won awards.

Competing with 17 other films, ‘Lerd’ narrates the story of a couple who have retired to the countryside but their land is coveted by a private company.

“Combining a realistic environment with the one created by CGI (computer-generated imagery) was my biggest challenge in the film,” Rasoulof said.

He added: “From the story writing stage I was worried that these sections may not be representative of my kind of stories and I was fearful of them ending up Hollywood style.”

Reza Akhlaghirad and Soudabeh Beizaee have starred in the film.

The 70th edition of Cannes Film Festival is slated for May 17-28, 2017 in the French city of Cannes.

FM/MMF