36th FFF’S big winner to make int’l debut at Berlinale market

The winner of six Crystal Simorgh awards at the 36th Fajr Film Festival, ‘The Lost Strait’ will make its international debut at Berlin Film Festival market on February 16. Directed by Bahram Tavakkoli, the movie received Crystal Simorgh awards in various categories including a Crystal Simorgh for Best Special Effects, Best Make-up, Best Sound Recording, Best Actor, Best Director as well as a Crystal Simorgh for Best Film.

The story of ‘The Lost Strait’ is set in the final days of the Iraqi imposed war just before Iran accepted UN Resolution 598, which ended the war on July 20, 1988.

Starring Javad Ezzati, Amir Jadidi, Mehdi Pakdel, Ali Soleimani, Mehdi Qorbani and Hamid-reza Azarang, the film depicts how Iran’s Ammar battalion fought against the Iraqi forces in an unequal encounter in Abu Ghuraib Pass near the mountains of Dehloran in Iran’s Ilam Province.

Iranian forces were conducting the war in different regions and front lines.

Ammar soldiers had been granted some days off to return home, but were dispatched to the mountain pass after receiving news that the Iraqi forces were advancing to Fakkeh and Sharhani regions in Khuzestan and Ilam provinces.

The flick was highly admired by a group of renowned Iranian cineastes such as Majid Majidi and Fatemeh Motamed-aria during the ten-day festival.

The 68th Berlin International Film Festival scheduled to take place from February 15 to 25. is