Iran Film Festival, starting today, will showcase a mix of old and new flicks by maverick directors

DESPITE several issues which have bogged the nation -- disturbed political scenario, an oppressive regime and suppression to name a few -- the people of Iran have found out an escape route through their art and cinema.
So whenever there is an Iranian film festival happening, you always expect nothing short of the best. While everyone is well acquainted with gems like Baran, The Runner, Little Stranger or The White Balloon which have achieved cult status, perhaps the time has come to get a taste of something new, along with old favourites, of course.


A still from Fireworks Wednesday

This time around, new directors are the focus of the Iran Film Festival. "The audience in India is not familiar with the significance of the kind of cinema Iran does, and that is a fact that needs to be addressed. This is what we have attempted in the festival this year at the Iran Culture House," says Supriya Suri, artistic director, Film Society, Cine Darbar and curator of the festival.

The festival will showcase five movies by veteran and young Iranian directors. Baran, directed by veteran filmmaker Majid Majidi, is the love story of Rahmat, a young Afghan girl, and a 17-year-old Kurdish worker. Set in a construction site in Tehran, it deals with the revelation of the girl's true identity.

Young director Kamboozia Partovi's Transit Caf ufffd is a film about a widow, an independent woman who gives up the norms of widowhood and decides to run her deceased husband's business and move on in life.

Making a film is a lifetime experience, but when it comes to countries like Iran where religious fanatics have an upper hand, filmmaking is almost a conquest. But filmmakers like Abbas Kiarostami have managed to break all barriers.

The director's The Wind Will Carry Us will be showcased at the festival. It's the story of an arrogant engineer who shifts from the city to a village to look after a dying relative. In course of time, his attitude undergoes a sea change.

Another new flick, Fireworks Wednesday, made by Asghar Farhadi is a movie about a girl, Rouhi, who spends the first day at her new job just after the Persian New Year watching people set off fireworks. As the story progresses, she finds herself caught into a different set of fireworks -- a domestic feud going on between her new boss and his wife.

The Passengers, also new in the slot by Bahram Beiyza, is a story set in a scene of conflicting, overlapping emotions. A young woman's wedding turns into mourning when her sister and other family members run into an accident and die on the way to the venue. Though the marriage is to take place, the girl is in a fix as guests and mourners crowd the place. What happens next is what the story is all about.

"We want to bring the best of Iran's cinema to India. Most people here do not know how to look at films and what to relate it with. Screening of such authentic and influencing stuff from Iran is something which can help create a larger perspective," says Suri.

FILMS PLAYING AT THE IRANIAN FILM FESTIVAL
BARAN: A simple love story of a young Afghan girl, Rahmat, that unfolds itself in the revelation of her identity. The film is set in a construction site in Tehran.
By Majid Majidi
TRANSIT CAFE: It is the story of a widow, an independent woman who chucks the traditional norms and decides to run the business of her dead husband to move on in life.
By Kamboozia Partovi
THE WIND WILL CARRY US: An ill-mannered engineer from a city comes to live in a village in Iran to look after a dying relative. In due course of time, his attitude and behaviour undergoes a sea change.
By Abbas Kiarostami

At: Iran Culture House, 18, Tilak Marg
On till: August 7
Ring: 011 23383233