Filmmakers and creatives who have fled their countries and landed in the Netherlands - how do you ensure that they find their place here, that they are offered a creative outlet? The Buddy Film Foundation offers a platform and a network to help them with this - with Buddy Film Casting and Buddy Film Productions.
During the third Buddy Film Night in Rialto we have the premiere of the film Just 6.5 by director Saeed Roustayi. The film will be introduced by Iranian / Dutch director and screenwriter Sam Yazdanpanna. He has been working with Buddy Film Foundation for years and is active for Stichting de Vrolijkheid.
In his introduction, he will address the question of what censorship in Iran means for filmmakers.
Just 6.5
In his award-winning second film, a surprising box office hit in Iran, Iranian director and screenwriter Saeed Roustayi portrays a harsh world in which everyone is both a suspect and victim – the world of drug trafficking and addiction. Iran has an estimated 6.5 million addicts, the number to which the title refers, a number that is increasing. Corruption at all levels makes it virtually impossible to combat the problem. Roustayi can see what drives both the cops and the drug criminals, which he expresses in occasionally breathtaking action scenes. The excellent acting of the two lead characters, Payman Maadi and Navid Mohammadzadeh, provides the finishing touch.
Narcotics officer Samad Majidi (Maadi) will not rest until he has managed to lock up drug lord Naser Khakzad (Mohammadzadeh), stretching the law a bit more than intended in the process. He finally manages to get a solid lead through a small-time dealer, a slightly larger dealer and Naser's ex-girlfriend.