TEHRAN – The Iranian feature film “People’s Child” directed by Mahmoud Karimi is present at the 66th Zlín Film Festival - International Film Festival for Children and Youth – which is underway in Zlín, Czech Republic.

A 2025 production, the 117-minute movie is participating in the Beyond the Childhood Horizon Section, Honaronline reported.

After the Iranian Revolution in 1979, children from an orphanage are forced to face life on their own. While searching for their families, one of them, named Abolfazl, learns he was once found as a lost child and decides to trace his origins.

On his journey for answers, he encounters various people and stories that gradually change his view of the world and himself. His path leads him through friendship, love, loss, and war until he discovers where he truly belongs.

The cast includes Gohar Kheyrandish, Reza Kianian, Hasan Ma'juni, Behrooz Shoeibi, Siamak Safari, Siavash Cheraghipour, Omid Rohani, Zahra Davoudnejad, Venus Kaneli, Javad Yahyavi, Maniya Azizi, and Mahbod Jahan Noush.

The film premiered at the 43rd Fajr Film Festival in 2025 and won three awards, including the Crystal Simorgh for Best First-Time Filmmaker, the Crystal Simorgh for Best Screenplay, and the Crystal Simorgh for Best Editing.

The International Film Festival for Children and Youth in Zlín belongs among the oldest and largest events of its kind worldwide.

Founded in 1961 in the Czechoslovak hotbed of filmmaking for children and youth, the festival gradually acquired international attention. It is a non-profit event with all screenings and supporting events free of charge. The audience consists mainly of children and youth from the Zlín region, but also university students and adult visitors.

The program structure of the festival focuses above all on films for children and youth. Its program scheme is very wide and apart from the main competitive sections of feature films for children and youth, includes a competition of short animations for children or competitive documentaries dealing with problems of young people.

Screenings are accompanied by a series of seminars, workshops, and entertainment events for children and teenagers.

Having launched on May 28, this year’s edition of the Zlín Film Festival will run through June 3.

SS/