TEHRAN-A total of 17 films from Iran will be screened at the 3rd edition of the Iranian Film Festival New York, which will take place from January 29 to February 6, at the IFC Center, New York, in collaboration with Daricheh Cinema and IFC Center.The participants include 13 feature films and four short films.
This annual event celebrates and promotes Iranian cinema, providing a key platform to showcase the diversity of the Iranian film industry, Mehr reported.This year, the festival introduces a new section, Hidden Gems from Iran, featuring rare and lesser-seen films that offer a fresh perspective on Iranian filmmaking.The program opens with the United States premiere of Oktay Barahenis The Old Bachelor, which won awards at the Rotterdam and London film festivals, promising to captivate audiences with its provocative storyline and captivating performances by the glamorous Leila Hatami, Hassan Pourshirazi, and Hamed Behdad.Other new films include the world premiere of Hamid Nematollahs thriller The Killer and the Savage, the New York premiere of Manijeh Hekmats Junks - Dolls, and In the Arms of the Tree by Babak Khajehpasha, which was Irans submission to the Oscars 2025 though it did not make it to the final nominees.This years edition also offers a special focus on the work of acclaimed actress Fatemeh Motamed-Arya, who will attend the festival to present screenings of five of her films, including new restorations of her collaborations with filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Once Upon A Time, Cinema (1992) and The Actor (1993), along with Avalanche (2015) by Morteza Farshbaf, The Blue Veiled (2019), and Once Upon A Time, Abadan (2021) by Hamidreza Azarang, screening in its US premiere.Born in Tehran, Fatemeh Motamed-Arya, 63, is a multi-award-winning actress.
She first got involved in theater during her teen years and received her degree in theater from the Tehran Art Institute.
She is one of the most significant actresses of post-revolutionary Iranian cinema and has been called.
She has been nominated 10 times for the best actress award at the Fajr International Film Festival and won the Crystal Simorgh four times.In 2020 Fatemeh Motamed-Arya was appointed the Ambassador of Mental Health by the Iranian Scientific Association of Psychiatrists and the UNESCO Chair of Health Education.
She is the public face and endorser of the Iranian Diabetes Information Association.Motamed-Arya is public face and endorser of the Autism Association of Iran, as well as Behnam Daheshpour charity.
She is an active member and public face and endorser of Mahak Society to support children with cancer and the biggest charity in Iran.She was selected as the ambassador of the Mehrafarin Charity Society during a ceremony in 2008, at the Niavaran Cultural Center, as well as World Food Program (WFP).The other Iranian feature films to be shown at the festival include Atomic Heart by Ali Ahmadzadeh, Facing the Rook by Sam Kalantari, and A Hairy Tale by Homayoun Ghanizadeh.The participating short films include: The Route written and directed by Babak Beigi, Ms.
Irans Husband by Marjan Khosravi, The Last Whinny of a Horse that Had Dreamt of Becoming a Butterfly by Mahdie Mohammadi, and Anita Lost in News written and directed by Behzad Nalbandi.The Closing Night Film of the festival will be Cause of Death: Unknown, directed by Ali Zarnegar, the winner of the Shanghai International Film Festival 2023.SS/SAB