ASHO

Iran, 2019, 30’
Director and Writer: Jafar Najafi
Cinematographer: Ahmad Babadi
Producer: Maryam Naghibi
Editor: Huda Arshad Rjahi
Sound: Saeid Bahrami

Asho is a shepherd child who enjoys life in the hillsides of Iran. His sheep are all named after celebrities: actors, actresses, and politicians depending on their hairstyle. Asho is the most peculiar case of a film buff you’ll ever get to meet. He watches tons of movies on his cracked tablet while on the fields and dreams of becoming a cinema icon. Along the way, he is expected to marry his cousin Pira to whom he is pledged. A landscape of stunning beauty and dreamlike frames provides the ideal backdrop for this romantic portrait of a natural-born star.

AWARDS

Best Documentary, Competition for Kids and Docs, IDFA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2019; Honorary Diploma, DOK Leipzig, Germany, 2019; Best Documentary Short, Cinema Vérité Iran International Documentary Film Festival, Tehran, Iran, 2019.

JAFAR NAJAFI

Born in 1986, Jafar Najafi is a student of cinema at the Art University of Tehran. He is developing his career as a professional photographer, researcher, and documentary filmmaker. He started his career as a director’s assistant and cameraman. So far he has directed a short documentary for TV called To the Color of Existence, produced in 2018, and Asho is his sophomore work.

Filmography

To the Colour of Existence (2018), Asho (2019).