Iranian filmmaker Narges Abyar’s award-winning drama, ‘When the Moon Was Full,’ was screened in the official competition of Estonia’s 23rd Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival and received an enthusiastic welcome from Estonian film fans.
The first screening of the film, also its first international debut, was on November 23, and the second was on November 25, both of which were received well by Estonian audiences. It is scheduled to go on screen for the third time on November 30.
The film’s director, Abyar, actor Hootan Shakiba, and producer Mohammad-Hossein Qassemi attended the screenings and took part in the question-and-answer sessions.
The film is slated to compete with seven other films, including ‘Girl with No Mouth,’ by Can Evrenol from Turkey; ‘Gutterbee,’ by Ulrich Thomsen from Denmark; ‘Monster,’ by Tom Sullivan from Ireland; and ‘Through Black Glass,’ by Konstantin Lopushansky from Russia.
‘When the Moon Was Full’ tells the story of a woman from Tehran who marries a man from an Iranian province near the border of Pakistan. Soon after, she discovers that her new brother-in-law is a religious extremist trying to recruit her husband for his bloody cause.
The love story had its premiere in Tehran during February at the 37th Fajr Film Festival where it won the Crystal Simorgh for best film and Abyar was named best director.
In addition, the movie won Hootan Shakiba the award for best actor, while Elnaz Shakerdoost was crowned best actress for her role in the film.
In 2016, the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival honored Abyar with the award for best director for her ‘Breath’.
The 2019 edition of the festival opened on November 15 and will run until December 1.
Iran daily