ASTEOIRD in SIFFCY 2023
In 9th Smile International Film Festival for Children and Youth (April 17th to 23rd, 2023 / New Delhi, India), Mehdi Hosseinivand’s highly acclaimed debut feature film, ASTEOIRD, will be a part of the Official Selection.
Travelling to an underdeveloped, intact area in the heart of Iranian central deserts, ASTEROID depicts the marginalized children deprived of the most natural rights. When in a surprising twist, paying tribute to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s ‘The Little Prince”, a pilot enters the story, it appears that the children, prince or poor, may lead different lives, but share the same big dreams. This way, ASTEROID merges the borders of the harsh reality and the childish fantasy, the naturalistic imagery and the humanistic visionary.
ASTEROID has already participated in 23 film events including FIff – Fajr International Film Festival 2021 (Iran / Eastern Vista – Best Film Award), Busan International Film Festival 2021 (South Korea / New Currents Competition), International Film Festival for Young Audiences – Filem’On 2021 (Belgium / CIFEJ Competition), Ajyal Youth Film Festival 2021 (Qatar / Mohaq Competition Section), Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2021 (Australia / Best Youth Film Competition), Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young Adults 2021 (Greece / Main Competition), Bastau International Film Festival 2021 (Kazakhstan / Main Competition), Dhaka International Film Festival 2021 (Bangladesh / Children Film Session), Cine Junior 2022 (France / Youth Jury Prize), Glasgow Film Festival 2022 (Scotland / Debut Feature), Fribourg International Film Festival 2022 (Switzerland / School Program), BUFF International Film Festival 2022 (Sweden / Competition Section), UCLA Celebration of Iranian Cinema 2022 (USA), Zlin Film Festival 2022 (Czech Republic / World Children’s Panorama), Seoul International Children’s Film Festival 2022 (South Korea), MSP Iranian Film Festival 2022 (USA), TIFF Junior (Norway), Kinoshock International Film Festival 2022 (Russia / Main Competition), Samara International Film Festival for Children and Youth 2022 (Russia / International Competition), Vienna International Children’s Film Festival 2022 (Austria / UNICEF Prize Winner), China International Children’s Film Festival 2023 (China / Competition), CMS International Children’s Film Festival 2023 (India) and Smile International Film Festival for Children and Youth (India).