APM - Asian Project Market

 

Back to list K9 (aka Iran K9)

Director’s Profile

Born and raised in Kurdistan, Iran, Vahid Vakilifar began his artistic career as a teenager in the theatre, before becoming an assistant director and completing a degree in filmmaking.
His debut feature film, Gesher (2010), and second film, Taboor (2012), won numerous awards and featured at many international film festivals, including San Sebastian International Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Busan International Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Sidney Film Festival, Miami International Film Festival, Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Nantes Three Continents Film Festival, International Festival Signs of the Night, and Rome International Film Festival, among others.
With his unique, extremely personal style, Vahid has been able to set himself apart as a distinct and notable filmmaker in the eyes of cinematic and artistic experts worldwide. This is exactly why critics at Film de Culte and Indiewire described Vahid’s film, Taboor (2012) as one of the best unreleased films of 2013.
Iran K9 will be Vahid’s fourth feature film.

Synopsis

An indefinite solar eclipse has drenched the earth in darkness, bringing people to the verge of madness. Believing that this is due to the wrath of God, a group of extremists take steps to clear the land of all the guilty; namely dogs and immigrants.
Iran K9 is the only safe haven for dogs and immigrant workers. Run by a dwarf named Kiumars, an agoraphobic who never leaves his quarters, the compound is controlled via CCTV cameras. The only link to the outside world is Mitra, a woman who lives there with her ailing mother. Mitra is pregnant with Kiumars’s daughter, but he wants a male heir. Mitra’s impotent husband, Nasser, has been banished for defiantly cutting off Kiumars’s ear. Kiumars in turn forces Mitra to choose a ‘husband’ from the workers, in hopes of a ‘son’.
Meanwhile, the fanatics try everything in their power but fail to penetrate the compound.
As Mitra’s mother’s condition worsens, she transfers her into a cell, only to learn that Kiumars is, in fact, her brother. Overcome with rage, Mitra dissolves enough opium in her mother’s tea to kill her.
Later, Mitra finds out that Nasser has escaped. Soon after, Nasser and a group of fanatics raid the compound through a secret passage. Nasser takes revenge on Kiumars while the fanatics massacre the workers in an orchestrated ceremony.
The future remains uncertain.

Achievements

2023 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

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