Turkish Cities Screening ‘Israfil’

TEHRAN. (Iranart) - T urkey-based International Filmmore Women Film Festival on Wheels, March 10- May 10, is hosting a film from Iran in a section named ‘Good Films Make Good Neighbors’.

Films screened in this section are from far and near neighbors of Turkey such as Iran. The Iranian film in the section is Ida Panahandeh’s second feature film ‘Israfil’, Cinematicket.org reported. 

A drama, ‘Israfil’ deals with human challenges and needs. The story is about Mahi, a widow mourning the death of her only son. One day she bumps into Behrouz, who she had a crush on years ago. But Behrouz intends to marry someone much younger, and for the grieving Mahi, unhealed emotional wounds reopen after 20 years.

Merila Zarei, Hediyeh Tehrani, Pejman Bazeghi, Soheyla Razavi, Hoda Zeinolabedin and Ali Omrani are in the cast.

Organizer of the festival is Filmmor Women’s Cooperative, which was established exclusively by women and for women in 2001. It intends to increase the involvement of women in cinema and the media.

The 16th edition of Filmmor Festival will take place in Istanbul, Trabzon, Izmir, Antalya, Bodrum, Mersin, Adana and Diybarbakır. It aims to bring women’s films, tales, poems, stories, songs, hopes, resistance and experiences to meet with the women in destination cities.

It has been scheduled for March 10-17 in Istanbul, March 23-25 in Antalya, March 30-April 1 in Izmir, April 6-8 in Nisan Trabzon, April 13-15 in Bodrum, April 20-22 in Mersin, April 27-29 in Adana and May 4-6 in Diyarbakır, the event’s website wrote. 

Entry to all film screenings and other festival activities, including workshops and talks, is free of charge.

‘Israfil’ has so far attended several festivals abroad including Audi Dublin International Film Festival in Ireland, February 21-March 4, and 16th Dhaka International Film Festival in Bangladesh, January 12-20. It won the NETPAC Award at the 7th Iranian Film Festival in Australia.

Director Panahandeh established her position as a talented filmmaker with ‘Nahid’ (2015). Her debut feature film attracted critical attention at Fajr Film Festival and was screened in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and received the Promising Futures Prize.