Iranian films Line Up for Reading Film Festival

TEHRAN.(Iranart) – Several films from Iranian directors will be competing in different sections of the Reading Film Festival taking place in the city of Reading, Pennsylvania from October 31 to November 3, the organizers have announced.

Boarding Pass by Mehdi Rahmani, Flying Fishes and The Snail, both by Mohammad Torivarian, Cradle of Silence by Mostafa Mehraban and Are You Volleyball?! by Mohammad Bakhshi are among the films.

Also included are Elephantbird by Masud Soheili, and Ako by Nabi Qolizadeh.

Boarding Pass is about body packers who swallow pre-packaged drugs willfully or under duress to transfer them across the borders. They usually carry drugs sealed in layers of plastic wrap. But the story begins when a package is not sealed properly and starts leaking.

Cradle of Silence depicts Rasul who has to deliver a cradle to his martyr friend’s widow. With Rasul returning from the southern warzone to the northern part of the country, his wife Laya plans on going back to the warzone with him. The cradle becomes an excuse for Rasul to reject his wife’s request.

Are You Volleyball? tells the story of a group of Arabic-speaking asylum seekers who arrive at the border of an English-speaking country and can go no further. There are scuffles with the border guards every day until volleyball becomes the catalyst that improves relations.

Elephantbird shows a minibus that is on a journey across the mountains to Kabul. Each person on the bus has a reason to take this journey. An old man is traveling to give a turkey to his grandchild, as his last wish before dying. However, the main road is blocked by insurgents. They decide to use an alternate road, which is not very secure, and there is still the possibility of getting caught by insurgents.

Ako shows Tehran’s Grand Bazaar. Every product has a story and every porter has a secret. Ako does not want anyone to know his secret.

The Snail is about three young Iranian boys along with a smuggler who are clandestinely smuggling across the Iran-Turkey border.

Source: Tehran Times