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Hainan Island Int’l Film Fest opens with Iranian director attending

“Sun Children” and “Bandar Band” from Iranian filmmakers will go on screen at the Hainan International Film Festival, which will take place in the Chinese city of Sanya from December 5 to 12, according to Shen.

The movies will be going on screen in Asian Spectrum, a non-competitive section that aims to construct a new landscape for Asian cinema.

The festival has received 4,376 entries from 114 countries and regions, and 189 Chinese and foreign films will be shown in 15 cinemas in four cities: Haikou, Sanya, Danzhou and Qionghai. Of these movies, 97 films are premiering in China as part of the festival, the highest number in HIIFF history. 

Filmmakers, actors and directors from different countries attended the opening ceremony. Iranian director Majid Majidi showed up at the red carpet with acclaimed Chinese actor Duan Yihong.

Majidi will hold a masterclass which will last until December 12 and is scheduled to attend the festival to promote his movie.

“Bandar Band” by Manijeh Hekmat is about some Iranian women singers who are going to enter an unofficial competition in a coffee shop in Tehran. 

Pregnant Mahla along with the other members of Bandar Band, her husband and one of their closest friends, starts her journey to Tehran from a southern province just when they have lost all they had in a flood. 

They still keep their hopes alive, however, every road they take leads to a dead-end in a flood-stricken land. They intend to go to Tehran, but they wonder if it is just another turn around a vicious circle.

“Sun Children” by Majid Majidi tells the story of 12-year-old Ali and his three friends. Together, they work hard to survive and support their families, doing small jobs in a garage and committing petty crimes to make fast money. Everything changes, however, when Ali is entrusted to find a hidden treasure underground but must first enroll at the Sun School, a charitable institution that tries to educate street kids and child laborers.

"The festival takes place at a special time and has a special meaning for filmmakers and cinema-goers worldwide," said Shen Haixiong, president of China Media Group (CMG) on the opening ceremony. "It's not only proof of the rapid recovery of China's film industry, but also shows the hope that people will eventually overcome the pandemic".

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