Shahram Mokri's film 'Black Rabbit, White Rabbit' won an award at the 63rd Golden Orange International Film Festival, which took place in Turkey from October 24 to 31. At the closing ceremony of the festival, as reported by ISNA, the film received the Sungu Çapan International Screenwriter Award.
'Black Rabbit, White Rabbit,' which premiered last September at the 30th Busan International Film Festival in South Korea, is a joint production of Tajikistan and the United Arab Emirates. The film's plot explores the fates of three people whose lives intertwine through events that appear unconnected at first glance.
Chekhov's dramatic saying that if a gun appears, it should be fired sets the tone for this bold new work by Mokri. The action unfolds in Tajikistan and is characterized by signature masterful long takes, witty humor, and interconnected narratives.
The three storylines include: a wealthy wife bandaged after a car accident who begins to suspect her husband of a crime; an experienced armorer on the set of a remake of a classic Iranian film who fears that the prop gun might be real; and a young woman demonstrating the extraction of a rabbit from a hat during an audition. These seemingly unrelated stories come together into a playfully intriguing whole, filled with elements of magical realism and metatextuality.
Shahram Mokri, 48, has previously received recognition: in 2013, he won the Venice Film Festival Horizons Award for creative content for his second feature film 'Fish and Cat.' In 2018, his third film 'Invasion' was screened at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival and nominated for the Teddy Award. He also received a Hugo Silver Medal at the Chicago Film Festival's main section and the Venice Film Critics' Award for Best Screenplay for his fourth film 'Careless Crime.'
Among the cast of 'Black Rabbit, White Rabbit,' Mokri's fifth feature film, are Babak Karimi, Hasti Mohammadi, Kibriyo Dilobova, and Bezhan Davlatov. The Golden Orange Festival in Antalya is considered the second most significant film festival in Turkey and has been held annually in Antalya since 1963. Since 2009, the event, which takes place in the autumn at the Antalya Cultural Center, has been organized exclusively by the Antalya Culture and Arts Foundation and includes an international section within the main body of the festival.