Acclaimed filmmaker Anup Singh’s “The Song of Scorpions,” starring Indian actor Irrfan Khan and Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani, will premiere at the 70th Locarno International Film Festival. The film festival, held annually in August in Locarno, Switzerland, is known worldwide as a festival of discovery and for having one of the largest open-air screens in the world. The late Abbas Kiarostami, along with Anthony Hopkins, Quentin Tarantino and Penelope Cruz are just some of the well-know directors and actors to have recently visited the festival.
Shot on location in the Indian desert state of Rajasthan, “The Song of Scorpions” is a story of twisted love, revenge and the redemptive power of a song. Farahani’s character, Nooran, carefree and defiantly independent, is a tribal woman learning the ancient art of healing from her grandmother, a revered scorpion-singer. When Aadam (Irrfan Khan), a camel trader in the Rajasthan desert, hears her sing, he falls desperately in love. But even before they can get to know each other better, Nooran is poisoned by a brutal treachery that sets her on a perilous journey to avenge herself and find her song.
The talented Farahani, last seen in “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,” said in an interview with The Hindu, “I play a girl called Nooran who grows through her pain. (She is a scorpion singer who sings a melody to draw out the poison of venomous scorpions.) She realizes that instead of using poison to kill, she can use it to save lives. Nooran opened a big corner of my own personality. She showed me so many things through who she is. It’s been extraordinary, she has been like this very big child, very difficult to give birth to.”
As the buzz around the movie builds, Khan said, “I’m looking forward to be present and witness the world premiere of the film at an event as iconic as Locarno’s Pizza Grande. To witness such an event where people will come out in thousands in an open air venue to see the film is something I’m looking forward to. I am so excited to watch a film shot in the beautiful location of Jaisalmer In the background of Alps at Locarno”.
Farahani is expected to join Khan at the movies premiere.
