The movie
013 CIFF ’20 | Castle of Dreams
Director Reza Mirkarimi returns with this artful, wonderfully acted road-movie about an ex-con on the road with his estranged kids.
Length: 86 min
Country: Iran
Language spoken: Farsi, Azeri
Language subtitles: English
Cast: Hamed Behdad,
Zhila Shahi,
Azadeh Nobahari,
Nioosha Alipour,
Youna Tadayyon
Director: Reza Mirkarimi
Release date: 2019
Description
Reza Mirkarimi, director of three of Iran’s nominees for the Best International Film Academy Award, returns with this artful, wonderfully acted road-movie drama that evokes memories of neo-realism—but without the attendant sentimentality. Fresh out of jail, Jalal (Hamed Behdad) reluctantly takes charge of his now-motherless two children and heads to Azerbaijan with them and his new Azeri girlfriend. Taking in stunning mountain vistas, it is a trip that will change everything…
Along with the Best Screenplay prize it garnered at the Fajr Film Festival, Mirkarimi’s brilliantly executed tale won the Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor honours at the Shanghai International Film Festival, as well as numerous other festival prizes.
‘Subtly written and sensitively directed, [Mirkarimi’s] new film… is another psychological drama that nimbly teases out the meaning of fatherhood and the responsibility it entails…’—Deborah Young, Hollywood Reporter
Along with the Best Screenplay prize it garnered at the Fajr Film Festival, Mirkarimi’s brilliantly executed tale won the Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor honours at the Shanghai International Film Festival, as well as numerous other festival prizes.
‘Subtly written and sensitively directed, [Mirkarimi’s] new film… is another psychological drama that nimbly teases out the meaning of fatherhood and the responsibility it entails…’—Deborah Young, Hollywood Reporter
