Vahid Jalilvand’s debut feature film ‘Wednesday, May 9’, as Iran’s only representative at the 72nd Venice Film Festival, was screened Monday (Sept. 7) for the public in the Horizon section of the event.
Its first presence at an international event, the film had two showings for the press on Sunday and a second showing for the public on Tuesday, Honaronline reported.
Actors Niki Karimi and Amir Aqaee together with director Jalilvand who attended the film premier walked the red carpet before the movie screening.
Hollywood Reporter critic Deborah Young, praised the story, cast and crew, calling it “a harrowing but revealing window on Iranian society”.
In a review on the film, she writes: “The humanism of the finest Iranian cinema shines through the clouds of sadness in the movie, which explores the suffering of the un-moneyed classes and a strange philanthropist who aims to help them”.
A philanthropist places a personal ad in the paper, offering to give away 30 million tomans (almost $9000) to someone in need. The generous offer of a substantial sum attracts a huge crowd of needy. Though the story is heart-breaking, strong acting relieves them of sentimentality.
“Star Karimi gives one of her finest, most mature performances as a working wife and mother in the well-directed movie by Jalilvand who has done fine for his first feature,” Young says.
The festival offers 55 new feature films in three sections (In Competition, Out of Competition and Horizons), 16 new short films and 20 classics.
It aims to raise awareness and promote various aspects of international cinema in all its forms: as art, entertainment and as an industry, in a spirit of freedom and tolerance.
The event will run through September 12.

By Financial Tribune