Preparations for the third edition of the Iranian Film Festival in Rotterdam are taking place in full speed. In the meantime more details about the contributors are being revealed. Though the organization still leaves some space for their much promising ‘surprises’, they can already mention some names of Iranian diasporas who will play a role during this three-days festival.
It is obvious that the IFF is becoming a multidisciplinary festival with a wide variety in its program offer. After the success of the first widely known animation movie Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, animation movies have obtained a more appreciated place in the (Iranian) cinema scene. Tala Madani and Sam Yazdanpanna Ardekani are two young artists who will present their animation movies during the Iranian Film Festival. Tala, who is an American-Iranian artist in residence at the Amsterdam Royal Academy, studied art at Yale University and exposed her work at the Saatchi Gallery in Londen.
Sam Yazdanpanna Ardekani came to live in The Netherlands in 1997 and studied audiovisual art at the famous Rietveld Academy. In his animation movies, he stresses the sense of longing for his homeland and the search for a new identity.
The Rietveld Academy produced another talented Iranian artist, namely Mostafa Heravi. He will present his movie The Supper, that is loosely based on the last supper of Jesus Christ, the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci. In this movie Heravi shows us two interpretations of this image: Christ’s betrayal and the emancipation of women.
Nothing is what it seems, movie maker Farshad Aria proves this in his short movie Lost in Between. Remy van Heugten also proves this in his television movie called Shahram and Abbas. In this tragic comedy two Iranian refugees in The Netherlands pretend to be a homosexual couple in order to obtain an asylum status. It is difficult though for the lonely adventurer Shahram and the serious journalist Abbas to keep up appearances until the end!
The festival program has been elaborated with discussions, speeches and book presentations of various Dutch and Iranian Dutch-Iranian contributors.
Visit the website of the Iranian Film Festival for more information about the program and ticket sale.
