“Sun Children” picked for CineMasters Competition at Munich festival

TEHRAN – (Iranart)- Iranian director Majid Majidi’s latest movie “Sun Children” has been selected to be showcased in the CineMasters Competition of the Munich International Film Festival – Filmfest Munchen in Germany.

The event is the largest summer film festival in Germany and second only in size and importance to the Berlinale.

CineMasters Competition features the new works of master directors from all over the world.

Ten other films, including “The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet” by Ana Katz, “Riders of Justice” by Anders Thomas Jensen and “Wife of a Spy” by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, will be screened in this section.

The child labor drama “Sun Children” was among the 15 movies selected for the foreign-language film category longlist at the 93rd Academy Awards. However, it failed to receive a nomination at the Oscar race.

The film is about 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 movie had its Iranian premiere during the 38th Fajr Film Festival in Tehran in February 2020, garnering the Crystal Simorghs for best film, script and set design.
 
Numerous international events, including the 77th Venice Film Festival, have also screened the movie. The festival honored the film’s star Ruhollah Zamani with the Marcello Mastroianni Award. 

The 33rd International Film Festival for Children and Youth in Isfahan also awarded Majidi as best director and Zamani as best actor.

Strand Releasing, a leading U.S. distributor of foreign language, American independent and documentary films in theaters, on DVD/Blu-Ray and via video-on-demand, has purchased U.S. rights to “Sun Children”.

source: Tehran Times