TEHRAN – Iranian movies “Sun Children”, “Careless Crime” and “The Wasteland” have been selected to be screened at the Venice Film Festival as the organizers announced the lineup for the 77th edition of the Italian event, which will take place on the Italian Lido from September 2 to 12.

Directed by the world-renowned filmmaker Majid Majidi, “Sun Children”, also known as “The Sun”, will be screened in the official competition.

The drama about child labor in Tehran won the Crystal Simorgh for best film at the 38th edition of the Fajr Film Festival in Tehran in February.

“The Wasteland” by Ahmad Bahrami will be competing in the Orizzonti section, which is dedicated to films that represent the latest aesthetic and expressive trends in international cinema. 

It is about an old brick manufacturing factory that is going to shut down, and all matters to the factory supervisor is to keep his lover unharmed.  

The section will also screen “Careless Crime” by Shahram Mokri.

Forty years ago, during the uprising to overthrow the Shah’s regime in Iran, protestors set fire to movie theaters as a way of showing opposition to Western culture. Many cinemas were burned down. In one tragic case, a theater was set on fire with four hundred people inside, most of whom were burned alive. Forty years have passed and, in contemporary Iran, four individuals also decide to burn a cinema down. Their intended target is a theater showing a film about an unearthed, unexploded missile.

Iranian filmmakers are frequent visitors to the Venice Film Festival.

Iranian drama “No Date, No Signature” won Vahid Jalilvand the best director award in the Orizzonti section at the 74th Venice International Film Festival in 2017.

The film’s star Navid Mohammadzadeh also received the award for best actor in this category.

The Venice festival will be the first major international film event to be held physically since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

Several major festivals such as Cannes and Telluride were canceled over the pandemic.

Photo: A poster for director Majid Majidi’s drama “Sun Children”.

MMS/YAW