Motherland (2023 Canadian film)

Motherland
Directed by	Jasmin Mozaffari
Written by	Jasmin Mozaffari
Produced by	Priscilla Galvez Caitlin Grabham
Starring	Behtash Fazlali
Cinematography	Farhad Ghaderi
Edited by	Alexander Farah
Production companies	Prowler Film Silent Tower Fela
Release date	September 12, 2023 (2023-09-12) (TIFF)
Running time	24 minutes
Country	Canada
Languages	English Persian

Motherland is a 2023 Canadian short drama film, written and directed by Jasmin Mozaffari. The film stars Behtash Fazlali as Babak, an Iranian immigrant to the United States during the Iran hostage crisis in the 1970s, who must confront anti-Iranian prejudice when he meets his girlfriend's parents for the first time.[1]

The cast also includes Oriana Leman, John Ralston, Niaz Salimi, Birgitte Solem, Kevin Owen Clarke, Piret Jõgeda and Kiera Osborne.

The film screened in the Short Cuts program at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival,[2] where it was the winner of the Best Canadian Short Film award.[3]

The film was later named to TIFF's annual Canada's Top Ten list for 2023.[4] The film won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Live Action Short Drama, and Fazlali won the award for Best Performance in a Live Action Short Drama, at the 12th Canadian Screen Awards in 2024.[5]

References

1. Steve Norton, "TIFF ’23: Motherland". ScreenFish, September 17, 2023.
2. Anthony D'Alessandro, "TIFF Shorts Lineup Includes ‘Dammi’ Starring Riz Ahmed; Works By Mackenzie Davis, Yann Demange & More". Deadline Hollywood, August 9, 2023.
3. Steve Pond, "‘American Fiction’ Wins Toronto Film Festival’s Audience Award". TheWrap, September 17, 2023.
4. Pat Mullen, "TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten Includes BlackBerry, Solo, Humanist Vampire". That Shelf, December 6, 2023.
5. Connie Thiessen, "Canadian Screen Awards winners: Cinematic Arts". Broadcast Dialogue, May 30, 2024.

External links

• Motherland at IMDb