The festival will feature six exciting works and A Retrospective of Chinese Cinema will be the place you can see and review the astonishing feats at the Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran.
The following lineup showcases the cultural and cinematic aspects of China, sheds light on untold stories, shares unique stories, and brings together unique characters on screen:
Red Flowers and Green Leaves (2018)
Director: Miaomiao Liu
Synopsis: China’s northwestern region, where Chinese Muslims live. Thanks to his family’s zealous arrangement, young villager Gubo finds himself sharing a bed with the capable and beautiful Ashiyen. As time passes, the couple become aware of the secrets in their respective past that the elders had concealed.
The Enigma of Arrival (2018)
Director: Song Wen
Synopsis: After many years, a group of college friends reunite. They have not seen each other since the disappearance of Dongdong, a girl that they all secretly fancies. The circumstances of her disappearance caused the end of their friendship. A lot has remained unsaid, until now.
The Photographer (2018)
Director: Zhang Wei
Synopsis: The Photographer reflects Shenzhen’s transformation over the past 40 years. Inspired by true stories, the film examines the influence of China’s reform and opening-up through the perspective of a family of three generations. As the father struggles to juggle his dream of being an established photographer and his responsibility toward his family, his son demonstrates uses his talent through the then-burgeoning internet industry to create a new photography app.
Zhang says that he believes photos are the best means to record the changes in history, and this was his inspiration for the story. The film was shot mostly in Shenzhen, and Huizhou in Guangdong province. The film marks Zhang’s seventh directorial feature. The Shenzhen native, who is best known for exploring the life of ordinary people in a fast-changing era, saw his film, Factory Boss, win the award for best actor in the main competition of 34th Montreal World Film Festival.
A First Farewell (2018)
Director: Lina Wang
Synopsis: Isa Yasan is a Muslim boy from the countryside in Xinjiang, China. His mother was left deaf and mute from meningitis, and she frequently wanders away from home. Isa loves his mother deeply, and is torn among taking care of her, going to school and doing farm work. He is friends with a lively little girl named Kalbinur. They are taking care of an adorable lamb together. Kalbinur’s grades in her Uyghur are good, but her Chinese scores are terrible. Since Chinese is the national language, her mother wants to move to the city and find temporary work so Kalbinur can go to a Chinese school. Her father doesn’t agree to the plan, and the two argue a lot. That winter, Isa’s father decides to send Isa’s mother to a nursing home, and Kalbinur’s family makes plans to leave the village. Isa reads a story called “A First Farewell” in school, and although he does not fully understand the idea of farewell, he will soon experience it himself.
My Dear Friend (2018)
Director: Yang Pingdao
Synopsis: In southern China, a nervous city woman appears in a remote rural village, to go to her ex-boyfriend’s grandparents’ house to find him. The locals hardly respond to her loud, rude behavior. She can’t find her boyfriend but she finds out the secret friendship his grandfather has kept for 60 years. My Dear Friend screened at the Busan International Film Festival.
Ala Changso (2018)
Director: Sonthar Gyal
Synopsis: Ala Changso is the transliteration of a Tibetan folk song’s title meaning please drink up this cup of good wine. It tells the story of a woman who conceals her illness and the secret between her and her ex-husband and decides to go on a pilgrimage to Lhasa. The long pilgrimage reveals her inner secrets one by one. These secrets include entanglements and perplexities of love, morality, responsibility and belief between her and her ex-husband and between her and her second husband.
Presided over by writer and director Reza Mirkarimi, the 37th edition of Fajr International Film Festival will be held in Tehran on 18-26 April 2019.
MS/PR