For the first edition of BOOSTNL a wide range of projects are selected. At the Dutch Film Festival in Utrecht we welcome the 14 filmmakers with whom this new initiative will come to life. We introduce them with a short Q&A.

Ali Jaberansari

Ali Jabernansari is an Iranian/Canadian independent filmmaker/photographer based in London. He graduated from the MA Filmmaking program at the London Film School where he wrote, directed, shot and edited several 16mm, 35mm and digital film projects. In 2011, his final project, AMAN was awarded with Distinction by the academic board of the London Film School.

"I want to express, share and communicate some of my thoughts and feelings with other people. You can hardly lock up a group of people in a dark room and make them patiently listen to you without interrupting you or talking back at you. Cinema gives me that luxury and I enjoy that very much"

What is your relation/history with HFM and/or CineMart?
It is my first time at the HFM and Cinemart. My producer, Babak, has participated in Cinemart before and last year I was with him presenting his film 'Radio Dreams' at IFFR which won the Tiger. I was Babak's assistant director on that film.

In two sentences: what is this project about?
It's about three lonely characters looking for love and connection in the city of Tehran, where love is not allowed to be freely expressed and many odds are against it. It's about the fleeting nature of happiness and the absurdity of our constant struggle for it.