The short film “The City in the Shade of the Orange Tree,” written and directed by Amir Gholami, is competing for an Oscar at the 57th Nashville International Film Festival in the United States.
Amir Gholami, the short film’s director, says: “The 57th Nashville International Film Festival, whose history goes back to 1969, is one of the oldest and most notable cinematic events in America.” Gholami explained that for this year’s edition, out of more than 3,800 submissions from 100 countries worldwide, only 150 films were selected to take part in the various competition sections.
On the festival’s significance, Gholami said: “The short film, documentary, and animation competition sections of the Nashville Festival are recognised by the Academy, meaning the first-place winner of those sections directly earns the right to be included in the Oscar shortlist.” The director described the film’s participation in this competition section as an important new international milestone in Kurdish cinema’s global screenings.
Regarding the film’s story, Gholami explained: “The short film’s story focuses on an atmosphere of pain, memories of the past, and the psychological traces of war and displacement in society.” Gholami said the film’s title and content work symbolically and poetically on themes of humanity and hardship.
Gholami also noted that the orange tree symbolises life, hope, and continuity amid ruin. At the same time, the characters strive to find peace and their own identity in a society that has fallen into collapse or a devastating crisis. Through striking imagery and powerful visual language, the film conveys the characters’ deep feelings and lived experience beneath the shade of that “orange tree.”
