The first Festival Cinema Invisible (FCI) was held May 17 through 20, 2012 at the Concordia University’s Cinema de Seve in Montreal. FCI’s mission is to present Middle Eastern films that international audience may not otherwise see. By introducing filmmakers who may not have access to other mediums, the Festival provides a forum for dialogue and exchange of ideas. The films presented in 2012 have not been had publicly screened for reasons such as expression of social, political or moral ideas. FCI’s ambition is to concentrate each year on one of the regions of the Middle East. Thus the first festival screened films made by Iranian filmmakers whether in or out of Iran as well as films that related to Iran.
During the four days of the festival, thirty four movies screened in various categories; documentary, experimental, video art, and long and short films differing in length with different times of 3 to 88 minutes. Most of the movies were in Persian with English or French subtitles and a few were in English.
In the Festival’s opening ceremony held on Thursday May 17. Mr. Khosrow Shemirani, founder of Chacavac Cultural Center and Editor in Chief of Hafteh weekly magazine, welcomed the audience and introduced Festival Cinema Invisible. He stated that the festival is a brainchild of Chakavak Cultural Center, MAHAK International Artists Inc. and Café Lit, and has received intellectual and cultural supports from Center of Iran Studies and School of Cinema, both of Concordia University. He mentioned that the Festival’s mission is to provide a forum for dialogue and exchange of ideas between young filmmakers who may not have access to other mediums, and larger Canadian and international community, and expressed his desire that this festival provides small but hopeful steps in creating a more beautiful and peaceful world.
The second speaker, Dr. Richard Foltz, professor and director of the Center of Iranian Studies at Concordia University reminded the audience that, “Iran is a country that cannot be ignored”. He added, “The Centre for Iranian Studies has a clear mission to promote a better understanding and appreciation of Iranian culture and its contributions to world civilization. In seeking to fulfill this mission we have two major avenues open to us. One is our research and teaching. The other is public outreach. It is for this reason that we are very happy to have the opportunity to collaborate with Iranian cultural organizations in order to facilitate events such as this one in Montreal, and look forward to many more such collaborations in the future.”
Next, Dr. Mahmood Karimi Hakak, professor of theater and film at Siena University in New York, and President of FCI, spoke about goals and objectives of the festival. He said: “Festival Cinema Invisible (festivaal-e cinemaa-ye penhaan) is established with the mission to celebrate the cinematic works of the Middle East and North Africa, to foster purposeful communication and meaningful cultural exchange by exhibiting their artistic and creative works, and to offer the international community the opportunity to expand its understanding and knowledge of the region through this young and too often invisible cinema. To emphasize the vast and rich cultures and traditions of this part of the world, each year Festival Cinema Invisible will focus on one area of the region. Since FCI is indeed the brainchild of a group of Iranians, and because we are more familiar with our own culture and community, the first year of the festival is dedicated to presentation of Iranian Invisible Cinema. We are hopeful that as more artists and art lovers of Middle Eastern descent step forward, FCI will grow to its full potential in representing the diverse filmmakers of the entire region”. Concerning the Iranian cinema, Dr. Karimi Hakak explained that, “For centuries, Iranians have captured the world’s attention not by military force, but through their deep rooted understanding of human rights; through their respect for other’s cultural, social and religious values; through their unending struggle for freedom and justice; and through their undeniable philosophical, artistic and scientific contributions to the world at large. Recently these achievements include Iranian cinema—a cinema that has swept the screens of international festivals all over the world winning over 300 awards and prizes for its creators.” He then added that, “most these awards, however, are taken in by more seasoned filmmakers whose creative training is rooted in the period prior to the 1979 uprising. The Iranian youth cinema, for the most part, has yet to find its place among these giants. That is, of course, not because we do not have active, creative and exceptional filmmakers among the younger generation. Rather we, my generation, has not done all it could to promote their films. As a result we have a treasure of visual poetry that has remained hidden, unseen, or at best, less seen.” Professor Karimi Hakak then welcomed the festival audience and invited them to “sit back and enjoy the thirty four cinematic beauties created by Iranian youth and/or about Iran and presented here over the coming four days.” He concluded his speech by introducing Professor Peter Rist, the keynote speaker.
Professor Peter Rist of Cinema Studies Department at Concordia University spoke about importance of the Iranian directors’ works, art of Iranian cinema, and his own encounter with it. He remembered that one day he had “stumbled into a screening of Bahram Baizaiy’s Basho: The Little Stranger, some 20 years earlier,” where he was the only non-Iranian among hundreds of audience members. He said “I was so stunned with this films cinematic beauty, intelligent plot and creative directing, that I decided to see every Iranian movie I could find.” He added that since then he has had few Iranian students in his classes, whose works have certainly impressed him, couple of which will screen in this festival. Professor Rist spoke very highly of Iranian filmmakers, and named Abbas Kia Rosrtami, Jafar Panahi, Amir Naderi and Bahman Ghobadi, as some of the most impressive artists of our time who understand both their own culture as well as that of other societies. He then congratulated all Iranians, specially the organizers and audience of Festival Cinema Invisible, who in his words “are to be acknowledged for introducing lesser known Iranian cinema to the Montreal public.”
The screening began on Friday May 18, 2012 with Roozegare Farrokh, a seventy- six minute documentary directed by Saeed Nouri. This documentary begins by an interview with Farrokh Ghaffari at his home in Paris and introduces to the audience one of the most avant-gardes filmmakers of the Iranian cinema. Watching this movie, we are invited to Farrokh Ghaffari’s home, and with him travel to the not so distant past of Iranian cinema. We watch Farrokh’s childhood. He accompanies his father traveling to to Belgium when he is only twelve years old. During his studies in Belgium and France his soul is aflame by the magic rays of cinema. Ghaffari returns to Iran bringing with him a camera as souvenir and starts a new path, which is followed by Iranian youths to the point where we witnessed in Festival Cinema Invisible. In his interview, Farrokh Ghaffari, the actor/director, critic and writer speaks of late Ebrahim Golestan and Fereidoon Rahnama upon whose partnership he established the first National Iranian Movie Center and founded the first new wave in Iranian filmmaking in 1949. We learn that Ghaffari thinks about promotion of noble Iranian culture and tradition from the very beginning, and tries to make such movies that portray the real character of an Iranian man, his social life and his Iranian spirit. The documentary shows parts of The Story of the South of the City which reveals the problems of a small part of the Iranian society thus painting a page the country’s history book. Farrokh’s realism in presenting bitter events caused by cultural poverty, as direct result of economic disadvantages of the lower classes, caused The Story of the South of the City to be censored by the Pahlavi regime. After few years of silence, Ghaffari dramatizes Iranian Society of the 1940s through a dark comedy entitled Shabe Ghoozi. His career as a filmmaker practically ends by the movie Zanboorak. The part of the movie that is shown in Roozegare Farrokh displays naiveté of the mass through sarcasm and satire. Insisting on preservation of the noble culture and traditional values of society, Farrokh Ghaffari writes the book: Tazieh. He claims to have been the first person who, “saved the cultural values of this noble tragic play” and complains how others have tried to credit themselves with this. The documentary captures an emotional moment when Ghaffari is unable to speak, weeping bitterly, when remembering Ahmad Shamloo, the late renowned Iranian poet. The film ends with footage of Farrokh Ghaffari being put to rest at Pere la Chaise, beside number of other Iranian artists and cultural icons such as Sadegh Hedayat and Gholam Hossein Saedi.
Friday’s second documentary film was Dream Interrupted. Also directed by Saeed Nouri, this film reviews Mahmood Karimi-Hakak’s 1999 production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Tehran. The play was raided and closed down by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard on its forth public performance. In this film Mr. Nouri illustrates that although more than forty years is past since the fate of The Story of the South of the City, the arts still suffocate under the black mask of censor imposed by ignorant, self-righteous, mendacious agents and regimes. It shows how arts and artists suffer in the hands of censor. When the actors and production staff mourn and lament as they recount the events of that faithful night, the audience experiences how their ‘Dream’ is interrupted. Through skillfully placed footage of rehearsal and performance, juxtaposing with the actor’s memories, we witness that they are embittered and disenchanted with those who did not allow them to present the fruit of their artistic labor. Through their eyes, we see how painfully they prepared this play by practicing in an apartment, only because the authorities would not even grant them a rehearsal space. We accompany them as they tell the tale of their trials and tribulations. Through a visual tour of their brawl, determination and ambition this film explains how, after seven months of continuous struggle, the actors’ Dream is interrupted on its fourth public performance; their production shot down; their director summoned to the Islamic court and forced to exile; and their future marred by shadow of this incident, making it more difficult for them to practice the art they so dearly love.
The third documentary: Hamlet’s Green Evolution documents the creation of HamletIRAN, a theatrical initiative bridging the socio-cultural divide between this masterpiece of English language and present day Iran. In this film American director, Liz Richards, recounts staging Hamlet’s characters to represent individuals within the Green Movement, a popular and peaceful demonstration of Iranian people’s struggle for democracy and human rights. The production is staged on a map of Iran with two raised platforms, resembling two cultural civilizations, before and after Islam, each erected upon the bones and sculls of common men. In the center there a live waterway is built connecting Caspian Sea to Persian Golf.
HamletIRAN, directed by Mahmood Karimi Hakak, exhibits a creative brilliance in juxtaposing similarities between the social and political circumstances in Iran today with the events of Shakespeare’s play: Claudius is dubbed as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; Polonius, the puppet master pulling all the strings, is cast as Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei; images of Mohammad Mosadegh, democratically elected Prime Minister overthrown by the CIA in 1953, represent Hamlet’s slain father; and Hamlet himself is the archetype persona of Iranian Intellectuals. Gertrude is the motherland who espouses “the this” or “the that” only to protect its children from invaders, Laertes is a leader of the thugs persuaded to revenge rebellion, and Ophelia, the innocence perished, drown in the waterway running north to south as video of the murder of Neda Agha Soltan is projected. At play’s end Horatio, the historian/philosopher, echoes Hamlet’s final words: “Speak this to those who need to see what comes: The days of kings and monarchs now are past. Each vote, each citizen, has my dying voice.”
On Saturday May 19 2012, four movies were screened in the first part of the program. “Wind and Fire” directed by Vahid Vahidian, filmed in Sistan province introduces Hamidreza Avishi, a sculpture. Through his sculptures we view the far away and unknown culture and art of Sistan. The movie is filled with images of burning sunlight, vast deserts, and stories of Shahnameh, a 30,000 line epic poem written by Ferdowsi over ten centuries ago. We travel to Zabol, the birthplace of Rostam and visit other heroes and heroines of Persian mythology. Through Avishi’s iron-strong figures we find the mysterious nature of Sistan.
Building Benedictus documents process of creation of yet another theatre production. Directed by Brian Massman this film focuses on dialogue, discussion and negotiation of a group of five theatre artists from Iran, Israel, and the U.S., and their collaboration on developing a play which exposes the origins of mistrust between their respected governments. The play’s plot is simple: it is 72 hours before American bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities. A prominent Iranian politician, one of those who stormed the American Embassy thirty years ago, wants to meet with the American administration to present a proposal that may help prevent the war. He seeks the help of a childhood friend, now an influential Israeli arms dealer to make the connection. The American Ambassador in Rome, himself a hostage, bypasses the Israeli arms dealer to meet with the Iranian, who has in fact saved his life some thirty years earlier, to present a plan serving his own personal agenda. Neither of the three trust the other, thus negotiations fail, and the audience is left to make his own conclusion to the tense situation. Mr. Massman captures the challenges of communication, trust and teamwork of these artists, although unlike the play they create their own political, cultural and artistic exchange lead to understanding and friendship.
With The Empty Cluster of Those Days, directed by Sohrab Akhavan, we travel to Neishabour of forty years ago. The movie captures the life of a tireless poet, who remained in the dark world of illiteracy for the first thirty years of his life. Deprived of class or teacher, Yaghma works as a mud-brick maker until by accident life presents him with a mentor who teaches him to read and write. His thirst for knowledge and his enthusiasm for learning help him read the Koran in a short term. His near photographic memory allows him to memorize a treasure load of Persian poetry. Immediately he begins writing poetry himself and with gift of a good voice, he sings these poems in the streets and markets. Yaghma says, “I was deprived of a gift in my youth that I have now found in the middle of my life.” Thus he generously shares his knowledge with everyone who desires to learn. He has left the well of ignorance and now flies like a bird in the sky of poetry and literature. Yaghma sighs as he remember his lost youth and asks, “What would have I been now if there existed a school in my village?”
Diaspora Iranians: 2nd Generation produced and directed by Mahmood Karimi Hakak, opens yet another page of the book of Iranians perplexity. Eight Iranian youth, born outside their native country, hardly speaking any Persian, explain their socio-cultural differences with their American peers and friends. This film, made in collaboration with an Iranian anthropologist and an Iranian Sociologist, is aimed at exploring the socio- cultural and political divide that exists between the first and second generation Iranians living in diaspora. The young men and women of this documentary film are forced to carry the heavy burden of culture and tradition of their parents while adapting to the life style prevalent in the United States. They have gathered here to share their stories and help each other cope with the difficulties of such adjustments.
On second part of Saturday May 18, 2012, thirteen short films screened, most of which dealt with the place of an individual within society where filmmakers explored people’s relationships with one another within diverse circumstances. These movies had minimum or no dialogue, and communicated mostly through visual imagery and symbolism. The first film, Mysteries of Little Fish directed by Pouria Jahanshad focused on the daily life and problems of people living together in one environment and at the same time, observing common ceremonies oblivion of one another. During the 10 minute film, we watch people getting ready to welcome the New Year; a family is anxious to hear news of the father’s operation their, a woman who has no financial means to prepare the New Year table, a penniless child who roams the streets trying to steal a little red fish to add to the mother’s poverty stricken New Year table cloth, and a religious man who exposes the child causing shopkeeper send him home with bloody noise.
In Easy Cooking in Five Minutes, directed by S. Farahani, a housewife is cooking a meal as she listens to news of deaths, diseases, accidents and other sufferings on the Radio. When she hears a TV cooking program filming in their neighborhood is offering free samples, she abandons her own meal burning on the stove and runs out to accompany her husband for free samples.
The subject of food is repeated in A Perfect Dinner by Pouria Jahanshad. A man dressed in expensive suit is served an exclusive seven-course meal with all formalities observed. The only sound is that of a clock ticking. The man tastes each food as images of a woman dressed in red at the height of orgasm spreads across the screen. Jahanshad pictures our personal and mechanical desires in a selfish world where we are deprived of concern for others. He forces us to consider physical and material choices we make in our modern mechanical environment; choices that deny us the proper and full enjoyment of all that life offers.
During three minutes of The Familiar Frame by Pouria Jahanshad, we see the fixed and motionless image of a woman. She might be waiting for something to happen in the path of her life, whether good or bad. She might be a passenger who doubts whether to stop or to go on. She might be a lonely passenger waiting for a company. But, nothing happens, we see no change, she remains waiting.
Taste of Coffee directed by Kaveh Ghahraman tells us the story of a love destroyed, and a relationship reduced to small physical needs. The woman can’t decide whether to continue the relationship or leave, and if she is staying because she is used to the taste of his coffee? Or does she still love him?
Incomplete Moon, again by Pouria Jahanshad, reveals the deficiencies and limitations of human capabilities in one’s individual or social life. The sea is a symbol of life and the actress is drowning. The more she struggles the less she is able to save herself. We see three children who represent three major forces imposed on the actress. Number three shows completeness of the limiting power. When she is out, the same three forces block her way and in the end they fasten her to the wagon and carry her with themselves.
In Bullshits directed by Sadaf Ahmadi, a girl drives her car. She does not seem to be interested in taking the road paved by others; rather she drives into unknown territories. She recounts her personal problems, ending each with a “bullshits!” Not satisfied with her life, she constantly blames outside forces for her troubles. We cannot be sure if her difficulties are caused by the road or other exterior causes, but we are certain that such a driver will arrive nowhere.
Impossible Duality directed by Pouria Jahanshad shows a human image. There are two quite similar faces opposing each other. We find no difference between them. Each face uses makeup on the other face. One paints its opposite face as a woman and the other paints its opposite face as a man, but beneath the different paints and designs, there is only one face, affirming that man and woman are of the same origin, quite equal.
In Café 469 directed by Atefeh Khademalreza customers of a popular café calmly eat their food. No one is waiting for an event. No one thinks about future or an unexpected accident. A female voiceover speaks about the café costumers. It repeats “They would surly enjoy it more, if they knew this is their last supper.” The people continue enjoying their meal oblivion of what is to come. Six minutes later the film ends with an explosion. The café is bombed. We think how much more valuable and beautiful the life would be if we would consider every moment as our last!
In Look at Me directed by Pouria Jahanshad, we find ourselves in a woman’s house. She smiles whenever she looks at the camera as if she welcomes an unexpected guest inviting him or her in. In her loneliness, she needs to be seen and to be understood. Sometimes she entertains herself by setting the pieces of a broken mirror, as if she picks the pieces of her scattered memories to make it whole, and to view herself in it, even if some pieces are missing. She needs to be observed, even when she is cooking or when she puts on makeup. The mirror reflects her. She searches herself in it. At the end she walks to the balcony, stands next to a small flower vase. Is she waiting for someone to notice her, or is she contemplating to jump down?
In Puzzle by Saeed Nouri, a couple is arranging pieces of their memories, but they cannot make pieces fit. Some parts are lost and the puzzle cannot be completed. The puzzle represents an unsolved problem in a ruined relationship, which might not be built again even by replacing spare parts. It is about a quarrel which began by an unimportant game, a joke, but it ends in an unsolvable controversy.
Unexpectedly TV by Saeed Nouri shows various footage shot at different occasions by the same family. They are now watching the footage on their TV, when they see a something captured by accident and unexpectedly. The camera, like an eye that sees all secrets and keeps them in its memory, reveals a hidden relationship.
The second part of the second day ended with Woman of Burnt City directed by Vahid Vahidian. The atmosphere is that of nature and life and the woman we see in the image is our country, Iran. The mother of water, soil and wind is as old as history of the burned city. She has lived for 7000 years and will live forever to transfer the soul of the land to all the bodies of next generations and to live herself within their bodies. The last scene of the movie is interrupted by passing of a police car!
Each of the films screened in the third part, presented a glance over the routine life of people. The themes and main subjects of the second part, including the problems of urban society and human relationship, were repeated in the movies of this part.
The third part of the program started with Under the Line of Morse by Atefeh Khademalreza. In this movie, the camera quickly passes through various images as the sound of Morse is heard all through the twelve minutes of film.
It Can be Without a Name directed by Kaveh Ghahreman, opens with an image of a rooftop where two persons are sitting. Camera pans into the kitchen where the girl hears from her mother that her older sister is getting married. When she meets her own boyfriend accompanying her sister, her memories awaken taking us through what her past when she loved him.
Born in Iran directed by Banafsheh Hejazi and Jeanne Pope, concentrates on the problems of the Iranians residing abroad. It tells the story two friends travelling from Canada to the US to visit their grandmother. They are arrested by the border police, questioned, and their car confiscated with the excuse of fighting terrorism. It is a story most of us are familiar with: the hardship Iranians face in foreign countries because of the way Iranian government has behaved on international arena.
In Dream of Dragon by Atefeh Khademalreza, a young boy learns that he will be losing his vision quickly as the time passes. He will be completely blind in a not too distant future. He is determined to records in his mind every last image he sees waiting for this unfortunate condition.
The Role of an Image by Farshid Azari shows a painter who paints several pictures and destroys all because he is not satisfied with them. What picture does he want and why isn’t he satisfied? He is content when he finds his own portrait among the paintings another painter has drawn. He searches for the painter and finds her standing with her back to the camera.
Faraway illustrations the story of three sisters with three different characters living together in peace and harmony. One sister who is a poet is not satisfied with her life. She is alone with her emotions. She recites from her last poem: “she was…then she was not!” The other two sisters, busy with their own daily affairs, do not realize her unhappiness and grief until she no longer is. They mourn having lost her, but their distress is buried by the too many other everybody problems life imposes thus they move on their lives.
Agol directed by Majid Movaseghi, set in early 20th century, tells the story of humanity and generosity destroyed within a merciless unjust society. A woman in self defense kills a soldier who is about to rape her. Her husband claims the act and thus is arrested. Another soldier who witnessed the event helps the couple escape, but he is hanged in their place.
In Atefeh Khademalreza’s Ugliest Angel of the World the angel has to fade because he is ugly even though he is a good angel. He has to take hundreds of pills every day to cure his incurable diseases. He fails his final test and is not able to find the lost toy of a child who is waiting for an angel to come and make him happy. He, therefore loses all his feathers, but the boy still sees him as an Angel.
The fourth section of Saturday’s program included four short dealing with issues regarding social criticism.
In 12+1 by Khatereh Khodaie, the only character is a young man who on the last moments before his marriage worries about the girls whom he hurt in his previous relationships. Driving through the streets of Tehran he calls twelve girls asking them each if they still carry any harsh feelings towards him. They all have forgiven him and moved on with their lives. He is still on the phone with the thirteenth woman when the bride steps out of the beauty shop and is welcomed by him with a bouquet of flowers.
In Someone’s Got to Talk directed by Farzad Kiafar we listen to a couple lying on bed with their backs to each other. Sometimes we hear their thoughts and sometimes we listen to their words. Within an atmosphere of distrust, they ask where the other was and what he/she was doing at a specific time. Each found evidence pointing to the other’s affair with a mutual friend couple. By the morning it is clear that no affair has been had, rather they have only shared the other’s secrets and shortcomings with the friend. The marriage is already destroyed, and all husband’s attempts to restore their relationship fails as the wife sees no way to return.
Fear of a Penalty by Ayat Najafi illustrats the difficulties of national Iranian women’s soccer team playing with international teams. The movie sets in Tehran during the ninth presidential election. The female players endure all kinds of personal and social hardship and restrictions during their practices hoping they have the chance of playing in an international game. Their enthusiasm for playing soccer mixes with people’s excitement about presidential elections in 2005. We hear the candidates’ promises for better and brighter days. The screen shows the city covered with their pictures, but all indication is towards an uncertain future for the country, and for the team. Family of the captain of women’s team is gathered around TV to watch the male national soccer team wins an international game when the phone rings only to tell the captain that her team has not received permission to play.
The Letter is the last film screened in this section. Directed by Majid Movaseghi in Moscow, The Letter depicts the story of two prisoners sharing the same jail cell. The older prisoner, unhappy that he has to share the cell with another, abuses the younger one by stealing his wife’s picture, and eating his food ration when he is returned unconscious from an interrogation session. The younger retaliates by exposing the older man’s concealed hole on the wall where he keeps his knife and for which he is punished. The game ends when the older one replaces a love letter written by the younger’s man’s wife with a letter that says she is leaving him. The younger prisoner can not tolerate this and hangs himself in during the night.
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On the last day of the festival two feature length movies screened. A Bird Confined or A Few Moments Before directed by Saeed Nouri exposes the cumbersome customs and traditions of country life, and the shortcomings resulted from lack education and jobs within the Iranian rural youths. The movie is set in a village near Golpayegan. Ahmadreza, a young boy, dreams about flying. When he studies a lesson entitled “Dreams of Flying” in school, he becomes so infatuated that he decides to experience it in reality. He tears images of wings and an early airplane made by Otto from his textbook, makes up paper planes, and blows them high. Coming home from school, he breaks down all traps in the yards to release the doves. He is thrown out of school and is punished at home as well. Running away, he is seen following an extermination airplane touching the poison sprayed down. He is then caught and returned to the village. Parallel to Ahmadreza’s story is that of a beautiful young carpet weaver girl who is also strapped in the life in small village. The girl is in love with a young man who leaves for Tehran in search of better job and life. The film ends with the girl standing by the mirror preparing to leave. She hums: “A fairy enters. She is fearful, trembling. She puts her feet into the g water.” The girl combs her hairs, repeats an address few times, then looks into the mirror and practices, “Please sir, Tehran!”
Common Plight, a feature film produced by Mahmood Karimi-Hakak and directed by Yasamin Maleknasr, was the final movie screened in the Cinema Invisible Festival. This film takes us into the apartment of a middle aged couple. The man, bond to his wheelchair, is a painter. The woman, childless, is a teacher. It is their twentieth anniversary. Because of their financial condition they each can only invite one close friend to celebrate with. The woman’s friend is a divorced writer who had to choose between her husband and her writing. The man’s is a doctor whose wife left the country following the Iranian revolution. The two guests discontented with bitter experiences of the past failures, offer nothing but negative presumptions toward one another. Over the course of a night filled with poetry, food, tea and laughter, the hosts help their friends reconnect with their disappointments, reveal their fears, and discover new and common interests in one another. They agree that “life must go on” and it is important to stay hopeful and go forward, as “when a door closes, another opens.”
And thus the festival ended on positive note.
At the closing ceremony, the audience voted the following films as Best Documentary and Short Film.
Documentary Movies:
Roozegare Farrokh
Dream Interrupted
Hamlet’s Green Evolution
Short Movies:
Someone’s got to Talk and Agol
Woman of Burnt City
Fear of a Penalty
