The Iranian short film “Sheep” directed by Hadi Babaeifar is present at the RiverRun International Film Festival, underway in North Carolina, the U.S., and will attend two more festivals by the end of the month.

A production of 2024, the 13-minute narrative film will take part in the 42nd Busan International Short Film Festival in South Korea and the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen in Germany, IRNA reported.

“Sheep” shows a little girl named Rose who lives with her mother in Tehran. Discovering that the sheep in her neighbors’ backyard are being sacrificed in a traditional ritual, she decides to save as many sheep as she can. The cast includes Rose Tabatabaie and Gelavij Alam.

The RiverRun International Film Festival is an annual Oscar-qualifying film festival held each spring in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. This year’s edition of the festival will be organized from April 11 to 19.

Busan International Short Film Festival is an Oscar, BAFTA, and Canadian Screen Award qualifying festival. The 42nd edition of the festival will be held from April 24 to 29.

The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, founded in 1954, is one of the oldest short film festivals in the world. Held in Oberhausen, it is one of the major international platforms for the short form. Its upcoming edition will take place from April 29 to May 4.

Hadi Babaeifar, 41, discovered his interest in cinema at the age of 20 and bought his own camera. He studied film criticism and acting at the Karnameh Institute of Arts and Culture while simultaneously working as a photographer on several feature film sets.

When he was 32, he embarked on a directing degree in Tehran, graduating in 2018. His debut short film “Deer” premiered in Generation section of Berlin International Film Festival in 2022 and is the first part of his animal trilogy. “Sheep” is the second film in the trilogy. / T.T/