Nov 2, 2004, 5:08 PM

Iranian documentaries competing at Canadian festival

TEHRAN, Nov. 2 (MNA) -- Two Iranian documentary films will be competing at the 23rd Global Vision Film Festival which opens today/tomorrow in the Canadian city of Edmonton.

“The Lovers: The Victims”, a joint production of Mohammad Ehsani and Kamal Bahar, and Mahnaz Afzali’s “The Ladies’ Room” will represent Iranian cinema at the festival, which is an educational, inspirational and empowering showcase of documentary films, information and culture.

 

“The Lovers: The Victims” is about HIV/AIDS in Iran. Medical organizations, the Red Crescent, and other relief agencies tell a different story about the prevalence of HIV/AIDS. By focusing on the back alleys

and clinics of Tehran, and by talking to drug addicts, promiscuous people, doctors, nurses, and clergymen, “The Lovers: The Victims” takes a compassionate and unflinching look at this unfamiliar side of Iran.

 

Shot entirely inside a ladies washroom in a public park in Tehran, “The Ladies' Room” shatters Western preconceptions of Iranian women. Populated by addicts, runaway girls, and others who simply enjoy the camaraderie and atmosphere, The Ladies' Room becomes one of the few places where women feel comfortable enough to smoke cigarettes, and discuss taboo subjects.

 

Organizers of the festival aim to promote and encourage community involvement and a raised awareness of issues of global concern through film and the arts. This year's festival theme, “The Color of Currency,” will focus on economic issues and human resources.

 

The festival runs until November 7.

 

MMS/HG

End

 

MNA

News ID 8785

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