New Delhi: With brilliant films setto take centre stage at the 50th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), the trend promises to continue till the closing day. The India Premiere of “Marghe and Her Mother” directed by Iranian filmmaker, Mohsen Makhmalbaf will be the Closing Film of the festival.
The film revolves around Marghe, a six year old girl who lives with her single mother Claudia who has been kicked out of her house because of payment difficulties, leaving Marghe to an old woman next door. This is Makhmalbaf’s first film set in Italy and in Italian language, away from his regular backdrop of Iran.
The film has already garnered critical acclaim with layered symbolism and a certain innocence in its narrative flow which reflects the master filmmaker’s maturity over the years. The film has certain neo-realist and nouvelle vague influences and calls for the audience’s attention as he pays subtle tribute to two greatest film movements of the world. The film is a remarkable shift from his previous works which focussed on issues of authoritarianism and revolution and the daily lives of Middle East and instead focuses on the issues of identity, social systems, moralities and other aspects of the modern younger generation. The film premiered and was nominated in the Bosphorus Film Festival in 2019.
Makhmalbaf has previously been nominated and awarded in countless other festivals and is often considered as one of the leading torchbearers of the Iranian New Wave’s second generation.
It is noteworthy to mention that 2019 marks the 50th year of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), which is often counted amongst one of the earliest film festivals of the Asian continent. The 50th International Film Festival of India,2019 will witness around 200 best films from 76 countries, 26 feature films and 15 non feature films in Indian panorama section and more than 10,000 people and film lovers are expected to participate in the golden jubilee edition.
