World War III (Persian: جنگ جهانی سوم, romanized: Jang-e jahāni-e sevvom) is a 2022 Iranian thriller drama film co-written, directed, produced and edited by Houman Seyyedi. The film stars Mohsen Tanabandeh, Mahsa Hejazi, Neda Jebraeili and Navid Nosrati. It was selected as the Iran entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards.[1][2][3]
World War III | |
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Directed by | Houman Seyyedi |
Written by | Houman Seyyedi Arian Vazirdaftari Azad Jafarian |
Produced by | Houman Seyyedi |
Starring | Mohsen Tanabandeh Mahsa Hejazi Neda Jebraeili Navid Nosrati |
Cinematography | Peyman Shadmanfar |
Edited by | Houman Seyyedi |
Music by | Bamdad Afshar |
Production company | Namava |
Distributed by | Iranian Independents |
Release date |
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Running time | 107 minutes |
Country | Iran |
Language | Persian |
World War III competed for the Orizzonti Award at the 79th Venice International Film Festival where it won Orizzonti Award for Best Actor and Orizzonti Award for Best Film.[4][5][6]
Shakib (Mohsen Tanabandeh) is a homeless day laborer who lost his wife and son in an earthquake years ago. Over the last couple of years, he has been in a relationship with Ladan (Mahsa Hejazi), a deaf and mute prostitute. The construction site on which he works turns out to be the set of a film about the atrocities committed by Hitler during WWII. Against all odds, he is given a house and a opportunity of a lifetime. When Ladan learns about his movie role and the house, she comes to his workplace ask for help and a place. Shakib’s plan to hide her fails and threatens to destroy his chance to be somebody.
On May 11, 2021, Seyyedi announced that he will not appear in Saeed Aghakhani and Ehsan Zalipour's The Secret of Survival (2022) series because he is involved in the production of his new film.[8] On July 4, it was announced that the title of Seyyedi's new film will be World War III, and its pre-production has been started for a few days. Also, Mohsen Tanabandeh was introduced as the first actor of the film and some of the film's crew, and it was announced that the filming of World War III will begin in September, and it was said that the rest of the actors of the project were also announced in the next news. It was also announced that Namava Internet Broadcasting Service will invest in this project.[9]
On September 4, it was announced that Seyyedi has obtained the license for the World War III project, and filming will begin soon.[10]
On October 27, 2021, the actors, writers and crew of the film were introduced and it was announced that the filming has started and is underway in the north of Iran. Some of the film crews have already collaborated with Seyyedi in the films Sheeple (2019) and Confessions of My Dangerous Mind (2015).[11]
World War III was made with the investment of Namava, and it is the first time that the online streaming platform has entered into the production of a movie project, and it is also the second collaboration between Seyyedi and Namava after the The Frog (2020–2021) series.[12]
On August 4, 2022, it was announced that the film is set to compete for the Orizzonti Award at the 79th Venice International Film Festival.
With the urgency of a good thriller and the clarity of a fable, World War III is the gruelling but compelling tale of how one of life’s victims learns to imitate his oppressors. Largely unspooling on the set of a bad film being made about the Holocaust, Iranian Houman Seyedi’s sixth feature starts out as jet-black comedy before darkening still further into tragedy, a journey embodied in an absorbing and extraordinary central performance by Mohsen Tanabandeh as the film’s downtrodden hero.
— Screen Daily / Jonathan Holland[13]
Technically speaking, Director of Photography Payman Shadmanfar delivers striking imagery, creating a visually pleasing contrast between the brightness of the red house (one of the film’s main locations), the chiaroscuros of the poorly lit environments and the paler colours of the surrounding forest. [...] Seyedi demonstrates his expert knowledge of the directing craft and the actor’s work through an elegant mise-en-scene and excellent character development.
— The New Arab / Davide Abbatescianni [14]
Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref(s) |
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Venice International Film Festival | 31 August – 10 September 2022 | Orizzonti Award for Best Film | Houman Seyyedi | Won | [15] |
Orizzonti Award for Best Actor | Mohsen Tanabandeh | Won |
Iranian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film | |
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1977–2019 |
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