Iranian documentary enters Brazil’s PLANETA.doc competition
Iranian filmmakers Saied Nabi and Maryam Khadivi have sent their documentary ‘Forgotten’ into the international line-up of Brazil’s 10th PLANETA.doc festival, which runs nationwide from September 25 to December 25.
The organizers placed the film in the festival’s main competitive strand, a section that draws leading environmental titles from across the world and brings in heavyweight broadcasters such as National Geographic, Love Nature, Canal Off and Travel Box Brazil, ILNA reported.
Screenings roll out through December in cinemas in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Brasília and Florianópolis, with schools and universities given free, non-downloadable access through the festival’s official platforms.
The documentary centers on Abdulkazem Saki, an Iranian world and Paralympic champion who lives beside the Hoor al-Azim wetland on the country’s southwest border. The film sets Saki’s daily battle to stay in peak condition against the declining fortunes of the wetland, a place whose future, the directors say, “rises and falls” with the same fragility as the athlete’s sporting career.
PLANETA.doc promotes a shared language across science, economics and the arts. Its remit ranges from biodiversity and renewable energy to sustainable innovation and environmental governance. In a festival statement, organizers said the time had come for disciplines to “pull together” and build a common vocabulary for sustainable development.
Nabi and Khadivi are already internationally recognized for their previous documentary, ‘Standing with the Wolf,’ which earned the Legendary Hero award in Russia, nominations for the Golden Panda in China and the Golden Sun in Spain, a diploma of honor at China’s international festival, and two further nominations at festivals in Kolkata and Delhi.