Original name: (The Locust/ ملخ)

Iran / Germany, 2022, 79 min

Written and directed by: Faeze Azizkhani

Producers: Manijeh Hekmat (Bamdad Film), Mahshid Ahangarani Farahani (Bamdad Film)

Cast:  Hanieh Tavassoli, Pegah Ahangarani Farahani, Ali Mosaffa, Pedram Sharifi, Ramin Sadighi, Amaneh Agharezakashi, Ahmad Azizkhani, Majid Azizkhani, Dorna Madani.

Synopsis:

Hanieh is a broke forty-year-old woman on the verge of being thrown out of her apartment by her landlord. She has tried to make a film based on her own semi-autobiographical script for years, but after accepting that she has no luck to fulfill her dream, she has no other choice than selling the script to one of her best friends who is capable of directing the film. Due to her love for the script and its details, Hanieh is not able to tolerate any indifferent and ignorant reactions during the preproduction stages, but she decides not to get involved in any conflict with the director, the cast and the crew. However, during the reading rehearsal, when others begin to judge her character as described in the script and name her a bastard and a loser, Hanieh loses her temper and gets anxious. At her friend’s office, the investor calls off the project and Hanieh’s mother appears to force her to sell her diseased father’s house, the situation gets more and more complicated.

Director’s Profile:

Born in 1982 in Tehran, Faeze Azizkhani studied cinema and completed the courses in Abbas Kiarostami’s workshops. In 1999, she started her film career as a short film director in the Iranian Youth Cinema Society and continued working as a script girl and assistant director. After directing some seven short and documentary films and garnering a number of awards, in 2015, Azizkhani wrote, directed and invested her debut feature film, FOR A RAINY DAY, benefitting from the presence of Abbas Kiarostami as the advisor. The film won the Art and Experience Award at Fajr International Film Festival and participated in the Silk Road International Film Festival in China. Subsequently, as one of the talents of the year, she was invited to meet Martin Scorsese and visit film people in five states in USA. Her second feature film, THE LOCUST, was premiered at SXSW 2022

Festivals & Awards:

– South by Southwest – SXSW (USA – March 2022). Global (presented by MUBI).

– Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Czech Republic – July 2023).

– Edinburgh International Film Festival (UK – August 2022).

– Vancouver International Film Festival (Canada – October 2022). Vanguard Competition.

– San Francisco Independent Film Festival (USA – February 2023).

– Mostra – Sao Paulo International Film Festival (Brazil – October 2022). New Directors Competition.

*Premiere Status: Australian Premiere