Pic Source: Event Catalogue

Venue: Siri Fort Auditorium
Date: 16-19 July 2016

We have watched Iranian films like “As simple as that” and “A light in the fog” at India Habitat Centre earlier and were totally mesmerised by the sheer simplicity of these films. These are like windows in the lives of Iranians. Iranian films are the kind of cinema that really excites us and we look forward to watching more and more of their productions.

Our wish was granted recently when to celebrate 60 years of Indo-Iran cultural ties, Directorate of film festivals, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting of India organised an Iranian Film Festival at Sirifort Auditorium. They screened around 13 films in duration of this 4 days festival that started on 16^th of July.

We attended the inaugural ceremony on this rainy Saturday in a jam packed Sirifort auditorium. The inauguration started with a live concert by Iranian musicians from the group “Ronak”. The musicians, dressed in their bright and colorful costumes and head gears, were confident, energetic and extremely entertaining. The audience jived to their music in no time. They made us realise one more time that music knows no boundaries of countries or language.

Pic Source: Event Catalogue

Right after the performance, we watched the inaugural film “A cube of sugar”. There couldn’t be a better film to open the Iranian Film Festival in Delhi. It’s easy for Delhiites to relate to the wedding theme of the film, given that our weddings are also traditional affairs with extended family coming together and celebrating over big feasts and small fights. Another beautiful film by director Reza Mirkarimi whose “As simple as that” we have watched earlier and liked immensely.

Pic Source: Event Catalogue

We also managed to watch another Iranian film “A five star” on Sunday. This beautiful film was based on the story of a girl who wants to go to university and to manage the fee, has to work in a five star hotel. This film was an apt example of Indo-Iranian ties. It was heartening to see the influence our Bollywood films has on Iranian cinema. Amitabh Bachhan was almost a part of the cast without even acting in the film. The craze our actors (they mentioned Kajol too) and music (Sholey songs are their cell phone ring tones) have in Iran made almost everybody in the audience swell with pride. We loved every moment of this 96 minute film. One more five star experience for us. Simply Brilliant.

Film festivals bring the best of movies to the Delhi NCR audience. Be it the recently organised Jagran film festival  or Osian film festival, we make it a point to attend and watch atleast a few good movies that we don’t get to watch otherwise. Iranian film festival 2016 in Delhi was no exception.

There was also a display of Iranian handicrafts at the entry of the venue. The tea and snacks throughout the event were added bonus.