TEHRAN – More than 180 films by foreign filmmakers have been selected to participate in the 12th edition of the Tehran International Animation Festival as organizers unveiled the official lineup on Saturday.

In addition, 36 films by Iranian filmmakers will be screened in the festival’s international competition, which will be held from March 6 to 10 after a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Women Children and Young Adult Announcement (IIDCYA – Kanoon).

The films were selected from over 1000 submissions from Iranian and foreign filmmakers.

The animations come from South Korea, Chile, Poland, the Netherlands, Czech, Japan, China, France, Austria, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Brazil and dozens of other countries.

“Lajka” by Czech director Aurel Klimt and “The Nose or the Conspiracy of Mavericks” by Russian director Andrey Khrzhanovskiy are the only two animated feature films in the international competition.

Klimt’s film shows that life is not easy for Laika, a dog on the outskirts of a large Russian city. She is captured and forcibly recycled to become a pioneer in astronautics. Shortly after taking off into space, a number of animals follow which are hurriedly launched from Houston and Baikonur. The animals manage to colonize a distant planet. After a short period of harmonious and undisturbed coexistence with native life forms, however, the first human cosmonaut runs aground on their planet, and they are suddenly in danger.

“The Nose or the Conspiracy of the Mavericks” is a dark and cheerful look at twentieth-century follies, anchored in Gogol’s proto-surrealist short story “The Nose”, and Shostakovich’s opera of the same name.

In addition, 89 short films by foreign directors are in competition in the international section.

“My generation” by French director Ludovic Houplain is a highlight of the short film.

This film is a panoramic vision of Pop Culture as a landscape, divided by an endless road where art, politics, sport, finance, generalized surveillance and omnipresent computing intermingle.

Another highlight of the program is Anna Mantzaris’ “Good Intentions”. It’s a little thriller about people who aren’t always the best at making decisions. After being a woman responsible for a hit and run, scary things start to happen to her.

Photo: Poster for the 12th Tehran International Animation Festival.

MMS / YAW