Bulgaria’s ‘The Father’ to participate in Fajr Int’l Film Festival

‘The Father’, a title which represented Bulgaria at the 93rd Academy Awards, has been set to participate in the 38th Fajr International Film Festival (FIFF) in Iran.

‘The Father’, co-directed by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov, is a family drama about the difficulties of connecting with those close to us.

“Vasil has just lost his long-time partner in life, his wife Valentina. When a woman at her funeral proclaims that the dead woman called on her cell phone, Vasil seeks out the help of a well-known psychic in order to contact his wife. His son Pavel tries to bring him to his senses, but Vasil stubbornly insists on doing things his own way,” a synopsis of the film reads.

This year’s edition of the FIFF will also screen some other prominent films such as Italian feature ‘Our Father’ (or Padrenostro), which grabbed an award at the 2020 Venice Film Festival.

Earlier reports also said that Ukrainian film ‘We are Here, We are Close’ by the prominent director Roman Balayan will compete at the Iranian festival.

Roman Balayan is a Ukrainian-Armenian film director who considers himself as the student of Sergei Parajanov, one of the 20th century's greatest masters of cinema.

‘Final Report’, a new film by Oscar-winning Hungarian director Istvan Szabo, will also participate in the 38th FIFF.

The Fajr will also screen a restored version of the 1962 film ‘Ivan’s Childhood’ by Andrei Tarkovsky, and Bulgarian director Ivaylo Hristov’s movie ‘Fear’.

This year, the FIFF will open in Tehran on May 26 and run until June 2.

Iranian filmmaker and writer Mohammad-Mehdi Asgarpour, the secretary of the FIFF, said that most sections of the upcoming edition of the festival will take place online.

He added that Fajr screenings will take place at a number of outdoor movie theaters this year in an unprecedented move.

The 2020 edition of the FIFF was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Since its establishment in 1982, the Fajr Film Festival has played a vital role in the development of Iranian Cinema.

The 39th edition of the national version of the festival was held on January 31-February 10.

SQ/MG