‘Exodus’ will be screened at the New Asian Currents section of the Japanese film festival, and compete with other titles from Turkey, India, Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Burma, Vietnam, Thailand and Lebanon.
The documentary focuses on migrant workers from Afghanistan who entered Iran illegally and now wish to go back home, and they make their case at the government center near the border. ‘Exodus’ narrates the stories of people with different family and work circumstances from Iran with a reggae lilt, according to the festival.
Bahman, son of the celebrated filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, said that he was inspired by his father in making ‘Exodus’. “The film owes a debt to Abbas Kiarostami’s ‘Homework’ and ‘First Graders’.”
The documentary had previously competed in the Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary festival held in the Canadian city of Toronto. It also won the best film award at the 12th Cinema Verite, Iran’s major festival of documentary films.
The Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival is a documentary film festival held biennially in Yamagata, Japan. Its emphasis is on showcasing best achievements in documentary filmmaking, as well as promoting and popularizing the genre and documentary filmmaking in the region, according to the event’s website.
The 16th edition of the festival will be held on 10-17 October, 2019.
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