Iran’s ‘The Kites’ to fly over Sapporo filmfest

Iranian short ‘The Kites’ has been scheduled to compete at the 2021 edition of the Sapporo International Short Film Festival in Japan.

Directed by Seyyed-Payam Hosseini, the short film tells the story of a girl whose kite flies away along the Iraqi-Iranian border. She calls three boys for help.

However, the children are not only separated by a river, but also by the explosives left from past wars. Then, they try to talk over the lost kite.

Also set to take part in the Zero Plus International Festival of Films for Children and Youth in Russia, ‘The Kites’ has previously been screened at a number of global events, including the Galway Film Fleadh in Ireland, the Motovun Film Festival in Croatia, the Kaohsiung Film Festival in Taiwan, the Festival Curtas Vila do Conde in Portugal, the Festival Curta Cinema - Rio de Janeiro International Short Film Festival in Brazil, the international short fiction film competition of the Lebu International Film Festival in Chile, the Busan International Kids and Youth Film Festival ‘BIKY’ in South Korea, and the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) in Germany.

The Berlinale jury praised ‘The Kites’, writing it “tells us about borders, how they can be dizzying, terrifying and arbitrary. And because it’s a poetic tale that shows us that language can go beyond words and that empathy can be felt from afar.”

The Sapporo International Short Film Festival is one of Japan and Asia’s largest and most respected events to showcase short-form cinema.

The festival provides an opportunity for filmmakers to expose their works to large audiences and to submit them for appraisal by high-profile international jury members.

The 16th edition of the Japanese event will take place in the city of Sapporo on October 13-November 30, 2021.

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MG/AG