Iranian cinema: highlights from past week

In a week brimming with new releases and updates, the Iranian cinema scene is filled with anticipation and excitement.

Here's a look at the latest developments:

1. Poster for ‘The City of Cats 2’ unveiled

The poster for the film ‘The City of Cats 2’, written, directed, and produced by Seyyed Javad Hashemi, has been unveiled just five days before its theatrical release.

‘The City of Cats 2’ will premiere in cinema halls across the country on Thursday, September 5.

The film features popular actors such as Alireza Khamseh, Farhad Ayeesh, Yousef Teymouri, Maryam Saadat, Mir-Taher Mazloumi, Elika Abdolrazzaqi and Reza Banafsheh-Khah.

2. Hamid Nematollah's latest film ‘Face’ to begin production soon

The cast for the upcoming film ‘Face’, being directed by Hamid Nematollah, has been announced.

Leila Hatami, in her fourth collaboration with Nematollah following ‘Down and Out’, ‘Subdued’, and ‘The Killer and the Savage’, will star in the new movie.

Banipal Shoomoon and Navid Pourfaraj are also joining the cast of ‘Face’, marking their first collaboration with the director.

3. ‘Aziz' set for fall release following approval

With the issuance of the screening permit for Majid Tavakkoli's new movie ‘Aziz’, produced by Seyyed Ali Ahmadi, the movie is scheduled for a fall release in cinema halls.

‘Aziz’ is Tavakkoli's third feature film in the social drama genre and has been showed at some international festivals around the globe.

4. ‘Quietly’ ready for release

The film ‘Quietly’ has completed its technical processes, making it ready for screening.

According to the project's media consultant, the color correction was finalized by Farbod Jalali, and the technical work on the film, directed and produced by Majid-Reza Mostafavi, is now complete.

The cast includes Peyman Maadi, Mehran Ghafourian, Hanieh Tavassoli, Fereshteh Hosseini, Mehdi Hosseini Nia, Masoud Keramati, Mohammad Shakeri, Abbas Imani, Mahmoud Mousavi, Shirin Zabetian, and the late Hatam Mashmouli.

‘Quietly’, co-written by Mahyar Hamidian and Mostafavi, is one of the few social dramas expected to receive a strong audience response upon release.

5. Fereydoun Jeyrani returns to filmmaking after six years

Fereydoun Jeyrani, a writer, director, producer, and researcher, is set to begin filming his latest project titled ‘My Name is Mina’.

According to a report by IRNA, Jeyrani's newest film has recently received its production permit and is currently in the pre-production stage.

In this project, Jeyrani will serve as the producer and director, with the screenplay written by Amir Arabi.

The film is set to have its first screening at this year's Fajr International Film Festival.

Jeyrani's previous feature film ‘The Agitation’ was released in 2018. Following that, he directed the series ‘Whale Blue’ in 2019, which received mixed reactions.

In recent years, Jeyrani has primarily focused on hosting talk shows for various platforms.