Established in 2016, the High Coast International Film Festival is a two day event held in the High Coast in North of Sweden focusing on Avant Garde, Independent and Experimental Film, according to the event’s website. The third edition of the festival was held on 25-26 August 2018.
‘Paradise’, directed by Ali Atshani, is about two young religious scholars who plan to take part in a university seminar on religions in Germany. The movie is an attempt to promote Islam and reject fabricated sects attributed to Islam, such as Taliban and ISIL.
Starring Javad Ezzati, Mehran Rajabi, and Olivia Burkhart, the movie was shot in 2015 in Germany, Spain and Iran.
‘Paradise’ has previously won three top prizes at the Chelsea Film Festival in New York, including Best Director for Atshani, Best Actor for Javad Ezzati and Best Supporting Actor for Mehran Rajabi.
Atshani’s impressive track record in film production includes ‘1st Born‘, which is notable for being the first joint feature film co-production between Iran and Hollywood, using a cast and crew from both the US and the Middle East.