Beginning in Brisbane, the Iranian Film Festival Australia will open with Payman Maadi’s beautiful directorial debut, Snow on Pines, which stars Mahnaz Afshar and will be followed by an after-party event at Brisbane Powerhouse. Then, on day two of the festival, independent title Parvis will showcase the work of director Majid Barzegar, who also directed the highly acclaimed Rainy Seasons.

Other features to be shown throughout the three days will include Meeting Leila, The Wedlock, Close Curtain, Rhino Season, The Gardener and a special screening of Ali Asgari’s 2013 Official Cannes Selection short film More Than Two Hours. Documentaries Nessa and Moving Up, both set in Kermanshah, will explore the experiences of artists in the provincial Iranian town. The pre-revolutionary 1972 film from Behram Beza’j Downpour will also be featured in a rare screening, as restored by Martin Scorcese’s World Cinema Foundation. This year will mark the festival’s third year of celebrating the arts and culture of this fascinating nation.