TEHRAN-Three Iranian short films are competing in the International Competition section of the 70th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, which is underway in Oberhausen, Germany, from May 1 to May 6.

The Iranian films competing in the International Competition section of the festival are all productions of 2023, including “With Confidentiality” directed by Shervin Vahdat and Payam Azizi, “There is No Friend's House” by Abbas Taheri, and “Rizoo” by Azadeh Navai, ISNA reported.

The 17-minute flick “With Confidentiality” is a short documentary about a group of women in a village in Iran, who secretly come together despite the danger to their lives to write a complaint letter to the local authorities against their own men. Their clandestine unity and covert movement against widespread addiction among the men lead to a significant police crackdown.

“There is No Friend's House,” running for 19 minutes, is a joint production of Iran and France about Sarah and Mehri, two friends, who set themselves a perilous challenge in high school. But not only are they very young women, they're also from families with completely opposing views.

An Iran-U.S. joint film, the 15-minute “Rizoo” shows an eight-year-old girl named Rizoo who lives with her mother and grandmother in Tehran. A lively, polite, and smart girl, she has recently moved back from California. But when she must take a class portrait, her world suddenly becomes very complicated.

The world's oldest short film competition, the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen is a forum for experiments, unusual content and formats, and the place for cinematic discoveries, regardless of genre and production country. 

Every year, filmmakers from over 40 countries present themselves at the festival. Only international festival premieres are admitted to the competition. A premiere shown in the competition is often a springboard for selection at other festivals - not least for the Oscar.

The last time an Iranian film participated in the festival was 60 years ago when “This House Is Black” by Forugh Farrokhzad took part in the 11th edition of the German festival.

In 1963, the 22-minute documentary short film was awarded the grand prize for the documentary category at the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen in West Germany.

The film is a look at life and suffering in a leper colony and focuses on the human condition and the beauty of creation. It is spliced with Farrokhzad's narration of quotes from the Old Testament, the Qur'an, and her own poetry. The film features footage from the Bababaghi Hospice leper colony. 

SS/SAB