Directed and written by Abbas Ghazali, ‘The Smile of the Mask’ will be screened at Calcutta International Short Film Festival 2021 (CISHORTFF 2021), which is scheduled to be held during December 17-19, 2021, IRNA reported.
‘The Smile of the Mask’ is Ghazali’s second short film. The film has been shot in Turkey during the COVID-19 pandemic and is about the challenges the coronavirus spread has created.
Like Ghazali’s first short film, ‘The Smile of the Mask’ has a minimal and character-based story.
Zahra Karimi is the sole actress of the short film.
CISHORTFF 2021 is a unique festival that features the works of talented filmmakers from all over the world, according to festagent.com.
It has the objective of creating awareness among the cinema viewers through the projection of short films. The festival strives to bring filmmakers from all over the world under one set, filmfreeway.com wrote.
The members of the fest’s jury belong to a network of professionals, with years of experience in the industry.
Being a coproduction of Iran and Afghanistan, ‘The Dogs Didn’t Sleep Last Night’ will participate in the international competition section of the 51st International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa.
The fest will be held during January 16-24 in Goa.
The feature has been directed by Ramin Rasouli and produced by Siavash Haqiqi.
The synopsis of the film reads: “Life changes in a remote and forgotten village in Afghanistan, which is controlled by Taliban, when an American soldier, whose helicopter has crashed in proximity to the village, is brought there by a rural girl.”
The cast includes Atefeh Amini, Fahim Ebrahimi, Amir-Hossein Sadeqi, Fatemeh Khodadadi, Qassem Alizadeh, Soghra Bayat, Parsa Hosseini, Amin Miri and Yar-Mohammad Nasir-Mohammadi.
Founded in 1952, the IFFI is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. Held annually, currently in the state of Goa, the festival aims to provide a common platform for the cinemas of the world to project the excellence of the film art; contribute to the understanding and appreciation of film cultures of different nations in the context of their social and cultural ethos; and promote friendship and cooperation among people of the world.
The festival is conducted jointly by the Directorate of Film Festivals (under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting) and the state government of Goa.
In this edition of the festival, the Iranian feature will compete with 14 other films including ‘The Domain’ by Tiago Guedes (Portugal), ‘Into the Darkness’ by Anders Refn (Denmark), ‘February’ by Kamen Kalev (Bulgaria, France), ‘My Best Part’ by Nicolas Maury (France), ‘I Never Cry’ by Piotr Domalewski (Poland, Ireland), ‘La Veronica’ by Leonardo Medel (Chile), ‘Light for the Youth’ by Shin Su-won (South Korea), ‘Red Moon Tide’ by Lois Patiño (Spain), ‘Dream About Sohrab’ by Ali Ghavitan (Iran), ‘Bridge’ by Kripal Kalita (India), ‘A Dog And His Man’ by Siddharth Tripathy (India) and ‘Thaen’ by Ganesh Vinayakan (India).
Source: Iran Daily