Iranian movie ‘The Last Step’ gets festival screening

The Iranian film ‘The Last Step’ premiered at the 47th International Film Festival in Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic on Wednesday.

The movie is the latest screen performance by the Iranian actress Leila Hatami and directed by her husband Ali Mosaffa.

Her role in the Oscar award-winning ‘The Separation’, directed by Asghar Farhadi, made Hatami one of the best-known Middle Eastern actresses internationally.

“This was not my first experience as a director working with Leila Hatemi, she was also the lead character in my previous film. But I am not sure whether she will be in my next film or not.... she could be, but I am not sure. The film has not yet been screened in Iran, this is the first time it is being shown at this international festival. I hope that when it is shown in Iran, people will welcome it,” said director Ali Mosaffa.

Mostaffa also stars in the film alongside his wife. He plays a character who dies in an accident, but lingers on screen to shadow his wife, a film star, and offer observations about their marriage.

“This is not the first time I have worked with Ali. I got to know him during filming of the movie Leila. It was a natural progression for us to first be colleagues and then get married. Our friendship is deeper as colleagues than anything else. And working for him and with him is easy, whether he is working as the lead role opposite you or he is directing he is very supportive. The only thing I can say is that though we knew each other very well, working for him at first was hard, but now that we have known each other for many years, it is easy,” said actress Leila Hatami.

‘The Last Step’ is Mosaffa’s second feature-length film and will compete for the Crystal Globe award of the Czech festival, which runs from June 29 to July 7.

It is not the only Iranian film in the festival. Also in the programme from Iran is ‘A Respectable Family’ by Massoud Bakhshi, which premièred in the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.