TEHRAN – The latest film by the renowned Iranian filmmaker Shahram Mokri titled “Black Rabbit, White Rabbit” will have its world premiere at the 30th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), set to be held in South Korea, from September 17 to 26. 

Selected for the Vision–Asia section, Mokri’s fifth feature film is a joint production of Tajikistan and the United Arab Emirates and deals with three people’s destinies that intertwine through apparently unrelated events, ISNA reported.

A director is remaking a classic Iranian film in Tajikistan. The studio armorer is worried that the gun they intend to use is not a prop gun and fears the consequences. A young woman arrives at the location, insisting that she be given an audition. At the same time, in another part of town, Sara, recently recovered from a car crash, suddenly realizes that her accident was all part of a conspiracy. These people's destinies inevitably intertwine.

The cast of the 139-minute movie includes Babak Karimi, Hasti Mohammai, Kibriyo Dilyobova, and Bezhan Davlyatov, among others. 

According to Negar Eskanderfar, the producer of the film, “We have also planned to release it in Iran, simultaneously with foreign festivals”.

Eskanderfar, who also produced Mokri’s previous film “Careless Crime,” described “Black Rabbit, White Rabbit” as a continuation of Mokri's filmmaking process. “This film is a complex story of the fates of three people whose life events seem, on the surface, unrelated”.

“I believe that this is the best film Shahram Mokri has made in his cinematic career, and more importantly, Mokri himself believes in this and considers this film his best one,” she added.

Shahram Mokri, 47, won the Venice Film Festival's Horizons Award in 2013 for Creative Content for his second feature film “Fish & Cat”. 

In 2018, his third film “Invasion” was screened at the 68th Berlin Film Festival and was nominated for the Teddy Award.

He also won a silver Hugo medal at the Chicago Film Festival in the main section and the Venice Critics' Best Screenplay Award for his fourth film “Careless Crime”. 

Mokri is a founding member of the ISFA Cinema House Short Film Association. He has also served on the association's board of directors for three terms. In 2003, he was selected as the best young man in the country in the field of art by the National Youth Organization. He was nominated for the 2013 Asia Pacific Screen Award for Achievement in Directing for “Fish & Cat”. 

All his films have met with great success, with both film critics and the public. Mokri has also sat on several International Film Festival juries, including the 2021 Orizzonti jury at the 78th Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica, Venice, the 57th Chicago International Film Festival, and the 75th Locarno International Film Festival, 2022.

Dedicated to discovering and showcasing exceptional Korean and Asian films, Busan International Film Festival brings exceptional films to global audiences while solidifying Busan’s identity as a mecca for film and visual culture in Asia.

Widely regarded as Asia's acclaimed film festival, the BIFF plays a pivotal role in shaping the region’s cinematic landscape and has risen to stand proudly alongside renowned film festivals worldwide.

 Photo: A scene from “Black Rabbit, White Rabbit” by Shahram Mokri

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