Iranian films galore as DIFF set to kickstart 14 January

Iranian films will take the centre stage, as the 21st Dhaka International Film Festival (DIFF) organised by Rainbow Film Society is slated to take place at four different venues of the Bangladesh capital from January 14 to 22.

The main attraction of the eight-day event will include Iranian films such as 'Forbidden Womanhood' by Maryam Zahirimehr, 'The Last Snow' by Amir-Hossein Asgari, 'No Prior Appointment' by Behruz Shoeibi, 'Motherless' by Morteza Fatemi, 'The Apple Day' by Mahmud Ghaffari and 'Life & Life' by Ali Qavitan as they will all fight for glory at the Asian Film Competition section.

Another eight films by Iranian filmmakers including Amir-Abbas Rabiei's 'The Opposition', Ali Ghaffari's 'Sniper' and Sudabeh Beizai's 'Song of the Wind' will be screened at the Cinema of the World section.

'Urgent Cut Off' by Maryam Bahrololumi will be screened in the Woman Filmmaker category, while 'Surviving Fortress' by Farshad Fadaian will compete at the Spiritual Film section.

The Children's Film competition will screen 'Between the Cliffs' by Mokhtar Abdollahi, 'Ziba's Wish' by Ali Qavitan, 'Ticket' by Morteza Rahimi and 'Water, Wind, Dust, Bread' by Mehdi Zamanpur Kiasari.

'Typesetter' by Nasim Forugh will be screened in the Short and Independent category.

Overall 252 films from 71 countries under 10 categories will be staged at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Bangladesh National Museum Auditorium, Alliance Francaise de Dhaka, and Star Cineplex after the event's formal inauguration by State minister of Foreign Affairs, Md Shahriar Alam at 4pm on January 14 (Saturday).

Among the Bangladeshi films to be screened at the event will be 'Hawa', 'Paap Punno', 'Damal', 'The Beauty Circus', and 'Deshantor' alongside the highly anticipated 'JK 1971' by National Award-winning filmmaker Fakhrul Arefeen Khan.

'JK 1971' is based on the true story of Jean Kay, a Frenchman, who hijacked a plane to support Bangladesh during the Liberation War. 

The film stars Sabyasachi Chakrabarty, Subhra Sourav Das, Indrajit Mazumder in pivotal roles along with 36 foreign artists from the United States, UK, and Spain.