ASTEROID
Asteroid
(Sayarak)
Written and Directed by: Mehdi Hoseinivand Aalipour
Producer: Mehdi Hoseinivand Aalipour
DoP: Davood Rahmani
Editor: Mojtaba Esfehani
Music: Arya Aziminejad
Costume & Production Designer: Mohammad Ganjali
Sound Designer: Iraj Shahzadi
Sound-recordist: Meysam Hasanloo
Visual Effects: Majid Yousefzadeh
Cast: Hadi Kazemi (Pilot), Ghazal Shojaie (Ghazal), Ebrahim Zarozehi (Ebrahim).
Iran, 2021, Canon C200, 4K, DCP, Color, 1:1.85, 5.1, 78 mins.
Languages: Farsi, Farsi (Kermani Dialect).
Synopsis:
Ebrahim is twelve. He lives with his mother and five siblings of all ages in a two-roomed shack in the heart of desert, far away from the village.
Aside from feeding the children and obtaining a birth certificate for them, the main preoccupation of Ebrahim and his mother is to build a house in the village so they don’t have to walk all the way back and forth all the time…
Director’s View:
When one of my friends was shooting in the desert, I met Ebrahim for the first time. In a village where its inhabitants had not even registered for their National IDs, there was a little boy who did not know anything about life but working. I came back to Tehran but never managed to stop thinking of his story. So I began writing a script about a boy like Ebrahim… And when finished, I realized how little children and little princes are different from each other.
Director’s Profile:
Born in 1966 in Tehran, Mehdi Hoseinivand Aalipour is a prolific film editor best known for his cooperation with Dariush Mehrjui, Masoud Jafari Jozani and Ebrahim Hatamikia. A graduate of IRIB University, Hoseinivand has edited 35 feature films, 30 TV series, 27 TV movies and a number of documentary and short films all through his career. He has also directed four short films, one TV series and one TV movie. ASTEROID, his debut directorial venture, won the Best Film Award in the Eastern Vista section at the 38th Fajr International Film Festival.
Feature Films: 2021- Asteroid.
Festivals and Awards:
1- Fajr International Film Festival (Iran / June.2021).
- Eastern Vista – Best Film Award.
2- Busan International Film Festival (South Korea / October.2021).
- New Currents Competition.
3- International Film Festival for Young Audiences – Filem’On (Belgium / October.2021).
- CIFEJ Competition.
4- Ajyal Youth Film Festival (Qatar / November.2021).
- Mohaq Competition Section.
5- Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Australia / November.2021).
- Best Youth Film Competition.
6- Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young Adults (Greece / November.2021)
- Main Competition.
7- Bastau International Film Festival (Kazakhstan / December 2021).
- Main Competition.
8- Dhaka International Film Festival (Bangladesh / January 2022).
- Children Film Session.
9- Cine Junior (France / February 2022).
- Youth Jury Prize.
- Feature Film Competition.
10- Glasgow Film Festival (Scotland / March 2022).
- Debut Feature.
11- Fribourg International Film Festival (Switzerland / March 2022).
- School Program.
12- BUFF International Film Festival (Sweden / March 2022).
- Competition Section.
13 – UCLA Celebration of Iranian Cinema (USA / May 2022).
14- Zlin Film Festival (Czech Republic / May 2022).
- World Children’s Panorama.
15- Seoul International Children’s Film Festival (South Korea / June 2022).
16- MSP Iranian Film Festival (USA / August 2022).
17- TIFF Junior (Norway / September 2022).
18- Kinoshock International Film Festival (Russia / September 2022).
- Main Competition.
19- Samara International Film Festival for Children and Youth (Russia / October 2022).
- International Competition.
20- Kinderfilmfestival Wien (Austria / November 2022).
- UNICEF Prize.
- Main Competition.
21- China International Children’s Film Festival (China / December 2022).
- Competition.
22- Arctic International Film Festival “Golden Raven” (Russia / May 2023).
- Competition.
23- Children’s Film & Television Festival “KINOSVET 2023” (Belarus / July 2023).
- Nominee for Best Feature Film for Children – “KinoProfi” Program.
24- Ulyanovsk International Film and TV Festival for Family (Russia / August 2023).
25- Reisendes Freiluftkino Bremen (Germany / August 2023).
- Best Film Award.
26- Universal Kids Film Festival (Turkey / October 2023).
- Official Selection.
27- Kolkata International Children’s Film Festival (India / January 2024).
- Official Selection.
28- Les Rimbaud du Cinema (France / June 2024).
- Best Actor Award.
External Links:
3- Backseat Mafia – GFF Review.
4- The Wee Review.
6- The Movie Waffler – GFF Review.
7- Take One Action – GFF Top Picks.
World Sales:
Sales: mohammad@irimageco.com
Festivals: kamyar@irimageco.com