Palm Springs film festival to screen Iranian shorts

The 23rd edition of the Palm Springs International ShortFest (PSISF) has been scheduled to screen two Iranian short films in the US city in June 2017.

The festival, to be held on June 20-26, will screen ‘Lunch Time’ directed by Alireza Ghasemi and ‘Retouch’ directed by Kaveh Mazaheri.

‘Retouch’ is about a young woman whose husband does weightlifting at home. When he is trapped under a barbell during workout, she makes a devil's decision.

The 20-minute film by Mazaheri has received a number of international awards, including the Best Narrative Short from Tribeca Film Festival in the US and the Best Short Film from Fajr Film Festival in Iran.

The 15-minute ‘Lunch Time’ recounts the story of a 16-year-old girl, who deals with the harsh bureaucracy to fulfill her responsibility of having to identify the body of her mother.

The Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films (a.k.a. ShortFest), being held annually in Palm Springs, California, is the largest film festival for short films in the US.

The festival takes place across seven days each June, showing more than 350 short films every year, and hosting a Short Film Market with more than 3,000 new short films annually.

It also presents a three-day program of seminars, master classes, panels and roundtable discussions with free admission for all filmmaking and industry guests.

MG/AI