At least 10 films of all genres will premiere in this year’s section. According to the Secretariat of the annual event, the lineup is as follows:
Kuweires, My Little Homeland (2016)
1h 18min | Documentary
Director: Saeed Sadeqi
Country: Iran | Syria
Language: Persian
Storyline: It is 2012 and Shalis has to make the most important decision in his life. He is 19 years old and wants to join the Air Force at the Kuweires Airport. His decision coincides with the war in Syria.
From Hasakah with Love (2016)
10min | Short Film
Section: Market Screening
Director: Mohammad Farahani
Writer: Farzad Fakhrizadeh
Editor: Shahab Bashiri
Cast: Sarva Aliveysi
Producer: Mohammad Farahani
Language: English, Kurdish
Country: Iran
Storyline: A girl that her family had been murdered is all alone in the city. In order to show her protest, she has decided to burn herself in front of an internet connected camera.
About Director: Mohammad Farahani was born in 1985, Tehran. He has worked in more than 30 feature and short films as assistant director. His documentaries and shorts include Glass Eyes, Female Firefighter, Stunt Woman, and The Theft.
Alan (2016)
20min | Short Film
Director & Producer: Mostafa Gandomkar
Writer: Mostafa Gandomkar
Cinematography: Hashem Moradi
Editor: Sadegh Rezania
Sound: Arash Ghasemi
Cast: Jamal Hajizadeh, Paria Vaziri, Alan Samsam, NeginPashaei
Country: Iran
Language: Kurdish
Storyline: War has displaced many Kurdish, Syrian and Iraqi families. This film is the story of a day in the life of Abdullah, Reyhanand and their kid Alan before displacement.
About Director: Mustafa Gandomkar (born 1986, Hamedan, Iran) studied cinema at Tehran Art University. He is currently teaching cinema at the university and Iranian Youth Cinema Society in Tehran. The short film Alan was the only entry from Iran at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival that won an award.
August (2014)
1h 20min | Drama
Director & Writer: Ahmad Zaeri, Mohammad Esfandiari, Maria Moati
Producer: Mehdi Motahar
Editor: Hamid Najafi Rad
Music: Amir Bekan
Cast: Shiva Ebrahimi, Rena Shamis
Country: Iran
Language: Kurdish, Arabic, English
Storyline: This film is about an Iraqi father, a Syrian kid and a Kurdish Mother caught in the middle of the war. The film starts from 2015 and every episode is a prequel chronologically.
An Iranian Apostate (2015)
48min
Writer & Director: Hamid Abdollahzadeh
Cinematography: Hamid Abdollahzadeh
Editor: Hamid Abdollahzadeh
Cast: Abouahmad Jenabi
Producer: Erfan Talebi
Country: Iran
Language: Arabic
Storyline: The movie is about arresting an ISIS militant, who has killed 1700 people in one day.
About Director: Hamid Abdollahzadeh was born on August 9, 1985. He is a film producer and editor.
The Last Supper of the Levant (2016)
70 min | Documentary
Writer & Director: Mohammad Ghan’e Fard
Producer: Mohammad Ghan’e Fard
Cinematography: Mostafa Aghamohammadlou, Mohammad Mehdi Bahrami
Editor: Mohammad Nouri
Country: Iran, Syria
Language: English, Farsi, Armenian, Arabic
Storyline: Following the attack of al-Nusra front in an ancient Christian village around Damascus, 12 nuns are kidnapped from a monastery.
About Director: Mohammad Ghan’e Fard is a graduate of cinema from Tehran University. He is a producer of more than 20 films, from which documentaries like, Freedom and The Last Supper can be named.
Kech
15min | Short Film
Director & Producer: Mehrdad Hasani
Writer: Mehrdad Hassani
Cinematography: Hashem Moradi
Editor: Hamid Najafi Rad
Sound: Hamid Najafi Rad
Cast: Mohammad Reza Salahi, Paria Vaziri, MehrdadAbdollahi, Fateme Bagheri
Country: Iran
Language: Farsi
Storyline :In a war-torn region, a wounded nurse is trying to save a little girl from rebels.
About Director: Mehrdad Hasani was born in Rafsanjan. He is an art graduate. His short films are Perhaps I Know, Silence, and the Drill of the Maniac.
The Black Flag (2015)
1h 2min | Documentary
Director, Producer: Majed Neisi
Writer: Majed Neisi
Narrator: Majed Neisi
Cinematography: Majed Neisi
Editor: Mahvash Sheikholeslami
Sound: Majed Neisi
Country: Iran
Storyline: At the forefront of the war against ISIS; Syed Ahmad and Syed Jafar are fighting in Jurf Al Sakhar area in Iraq along with their troops.
About Director: Majed Neisi was born in 1981 in Ahvaz. Some of his films are Rusty People, My Messy Tresses, Portuguese Bombs, My friend Mr. Cow.
Babaei (2017)
1h | Documentary
Writer & Director: Mozaffar Hosseinkhani Hazvareh
Producer: Zahra Marjani
Cinematography: Mozaffar Hosseinkhani Hazvareh, HamidKzaemi
Editor: Nasrin Biglari, Zeinab Ahmadi
Music: Mohammadreza Aligholi
Country: Iran
Language: Farsi
Storyline: Alireza Babaei, a university staff who is studying for his degree, decides to go to Syria and fight ISIS in order to defend the Ahl al-Bayt….
About Director: Mozaffar Hosseinkhani Hazvareh was born in 1976 in Arak. His documentaries include Khak’o Tak, Palangab and A Childhood’s Dream.
The Dark Wind (2016)
1h 29min
Director: Hussein Hassan
Writer: Hussein Hassan, Mehmet Aktas
Producer: Mehmet Aktas
Country: Iraq, Germany, Qatar
Languages: Kurdish
Storyline: The young Yezidi couple Reko and Pero gets separated when ISIS attacks their village in the Shingalregion of Iraqi Kurdistan. The terrorists murder many villagers and sell Pero in a slave market.
About Director: Hussein Hassan is a well-known director, writer and actor in Kurdistan. In 2006 he shot his first feature film Narcissus Blossom which was screened at the 56th Internationale FilmfestspieleBerlin (Berlinale) and at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film was awarded with the Amnesty International Film Prize at the Berlinale. In 2009 Hassan finished his second feature film as writer and director called Herman which premiered at Pusan International Film Festival.
For all festivalgoers who are already planning their visit, check screening time and other information at Fajriff.com or email the Secretariat at Film@Fajriff.com.
Presided over by Reza Mirkarimi, the 35th edition of Fajr International Film Festival will take place from 21 to 28 April in Tehran.