Majid Majidi brings Midday Meal to Busan competition

Iranian director Majid Majidi has brought his drama Midday Meal into competition at the Busan International Film Festival, his first trip to Korea, according to Variety. He discussed his career from Children of Heaven to Midday Meal on Oct. 9 as part of the festival's talks programme, according to Variety.

Majidi directed the 1997 drama Children of Heaven. It was the first Iranian production ever nominated for the Oscar for Best International Feature, the Academy's prize for films made outside the United States, according to Variety.

Midday Meal is set in the Iranian village of Goorankesh. Mohammad Rahimi plays Davoud Soulan, a schoolteacher employed as a contractor on a salary from the Ministry of Education, according to Variety.

The lunches are a separate problem. They were paid for privately by a benefactor who has since died, and the benefactor's heirs do not wish to keep paying for them, according to Variety. Soulan's wages cover his own post. They do not cover the kitchen.

Without the meals, pupils could stop coming to class. If attendance falls, the school could shut down within an estimated two weeks, according to Variety. The clock is short.

To keep the doors open, Soulan moves into the school building to save rent money for food. He also smuggles and sells fuel to raise funds to keep the school running, according to Variety.

What makes this easy to follow for a general audience is the maths. One budget line keeps the teacher in place. Another keeps the children in their seats. When the second line disappears, the whole school wobbles.

The festival lists Midday Meal on its official programme website, according to BIFF. Screen Daily has also published a review of the film by Elizabeth Kerr.