Fajr Festival Screens Works by Kiarostami, Bouchareb, Hazanavicious
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – 'Certified Copy', 'Two Men in Town', and 'The Search' were shown on the first day of the 33rd Fajr International Film Festival (FIFF) right after the opening ceremony on Saturday.
According to the public relations office of the 33rd FIFF, three movies from three different sections were shown on the first day of the festival, only a few hours after the opening ceremony in Mellat Cinema Complex, Tehran.
Abbas Kiarostami’s 'Certified Copy' was shown in a special screening at 9 p.m. in Mellat 2. The film, which was dubbed into Persian, is one of the movies in the Art & Experience Section. T
his movie was nominated for the Palme d'Or in the 2010 Cannes Film Festival where Juliette Binoche won the best actress award for her performance. 'Certified Copy', which has won numerous other awards worldwide, portrays the story of two people who spend an afternoon together in Italy.
The second film 'Two Men in Town' directed by Rachid Bouchareb, the French director of Algerian descent, is also one of the 14 movies in the Eastern Panorama Section.
The movie premiered in the 64th Berlin Film Festival. It narrates the story of a black man, called William Garnett (played by Forest Whitaker), who has been released from prison. With the help of an idealistic parole agent and his new-found Islamic faith, Garnett struggles to rebuild his life and overcome the violent impulses which possess him. But Bill Agatti, the sheriff, has other ideas. Convinced that Garnett is unredeemable and is a threat to the security of his county, Agatti launches a campaign to return him to prison for life.
Two Men in Town was nominated for the Golden Bear Award in the 64th Berlin Film Festival. It is worth mentioning that Rachid Bouchareb's acclaimed movie 'Dust of Life' won an Oscar from the 1995 Academy Awards. Moreover, his movie, 'Outside the Law', was nominated for the Palme d'Or in the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.
The third one, 'The Search', is Michel Hazanavicious' latest work. He is the director who won the Academy Award for best picture from the 2011 Oscar ceremony for his acclaimed movie, 'The Artist'.
'The Search' stars Bérénice Bejo, who has previously starred in the Iranian director Asghar Farhadi's 'Le Passé' and won the best actress award from the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.
Set during the Second Chechen War in 1999, The Search recounts, on a human scale, a story of conflict told through four lives that will be brought together by a shocking twist of fate; those of a separated orphan brother and sister, Carole, a European Union delegation head and 20-year-old Kolia, a recent Russian Army recruit.
The movie was shown in the Salvation Section of the 33rd FIFF.
The international section of the 33rd Fajr International Film Festival was inaugurated in a special ceremony here in Tehran on Saturday. This is the first year for the international section of the festival to be held separately from the national section.