Mashti Esmaeil
November 6th, 2016
In the Iranian countryside, an old blind farmer named Mashti Esmaeil toils through the seasons of sowing and harvest. Despite his blindness and old age, Mashti Esmail walks three hours every day to till his rice paddies. This open-hearted old man fills everybody around him, including his wives, with his friendly optimism. This portrayal of everyday reality is depicted with cinematographic sensitivity reminiscent of Still Life, a 40-year old classic of Iranian cinema.
Mahdi Zamanpoor was born in 1975 in Kiasar, Iran. He completed his MA in TV Production & Directing from the IRIB College for which he graduated as first of his promotion. He has been making films since 2004, and has so far worked on more than 65 films and short documentaries, which have brought him numerous international awards such as the Special Jury Award at the Ammar Popular Film Festival 2012. Mashti Esmail was screened at the 2014 of Visions du Réel where it earned a “Sesterce d’Or George Foundation” for Best Medium-length Film.
It also won a number of awards at the 9th Ecozine Film Festival in 2016 in Spain.
