Iranian feature animation 'Release from Heaven' has been set to go on screen at the 6th edition of the Nepal Human Rights International Film Festival (NHRIFF).
Directed by Ali Nouri-Oskouei, the 76-minute animation tells the story of a war-torn country, a female teacher and comic writer who lives with her students in a boarding school. To calm horrified children who have no hope in the terrifying world, she keeps telling them a story every night; stories about her childhood imaginary hero who has become a part of her life.
But one night the school is attacked and destroyed so she has to accompany two of her students to find their parents. They start a journey during which she finds some signs of her imaginary hero in real world.
Up until that time she thought that the man who had become her hero was just a part of her stories, but now with the signs she finds, she knows that he is real and she is determined to find him, but she has a big problem; she knows nothing about him.
‘Release from Heaven’ has vied in a large number of international film events so far, including the 7th Fort McMurray International Film Festival in Canada, the 10th International Film Festival for Children and Youth JUNIORFEST in the Czech Republic, the 11th Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Australia, the 21st Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival in South Korea, and the “Euro Fest” European International Film Festival in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
The movie has also grabbed several best animation awards from different international event such as the Oniros Film Awards in Italy, the Fort McMurray International Film Festival in Canada, the SICAF film festival in South Korea, the Hong Kong International Film Festival, the Lisbon International Film Festival in Portugal, the Accolade Global Film Competition in the US, the Animation Day of Cannes Film Festival in France, the International Film Festival of India in Goa, and the Gold Movie Awards in London, the UK.
The 6th NHRIFF has also set to screen Iranian short film 'It Rains Slowly' directed by Saeed Nejati.
The NHRIFF has been founded as a forum for advocating human rights via films. The festival is dedicated to the vulnerable communities which are historically backward in Nepal.
The 6th edition of NHRIFF is slated for March 7-10, 2018.
MG/MMF