Tooman
"Tooman" offers head-spinningly tense action in this story of two best friends, Aziz and Davood who work at a dairy factory. To escape the despondency of the surrounding life, they play FIFA at every opportunity.
Thanks to the men’s skills, FIFA is also an opportunity to find a way out of poverty, as the bets won in that game exceed their annual salary by several times. In addition to skills and wits, they have to risk with new bets every time and play with the money they have won in order to win the big prize. FIFA is just the beginning in a blinding race to strike it rich. The friends become a professional team whose hobby becomes everyday work, while they unnoticeably become addicted to gambling. In that closed circle, it is just a matter of time when family relations, friends’ trust and own life has to be put on the line.
"Tooman" incisively analyses the blinding power of money as well as the impossibility of living without it, doing it in the key of dramaturgical euphoria of winning, which is inevitably accompanied by the bitter taste of loss. With the masterful plot, the film’s screenwriter and director Morteza Farshbaf conveys a greater idea of the core essence and fundamental needs of a person. Interlaced with several deep-cutting subtopics, the drama takes on an epic dimension, while still managing to keep its pace and grip.
Elise Eimre

Morteza Farshbaf (b. 1986), young Iranian director, went to the University of Art in Tehran for studying Cinema, and received his BFA in film. He has been active working in cinema as director, writer, editor and cinematographer since very early age of 18. He has directed his own short films since 2004, and made 5 short films since then. Morteza has also attended Abbas Kiarostami’s filmmaking workshops and has cooperated with him in film projects. He directed his first feature film, "Mourning" in 2010. His second feature film was "Avalanche" (2015), which premiered also at PÖFF as part of Main Competition. He runs RAS Cinematheque in Tehran that its main focus is on independent cinema from all around the world. "Tooman" is his third feature film.
Soog (Lein, PÖFF 2010), Avalanche (Laviin, PÖFF 2015), Tooman (2019)
Grand Prix for The Best Film, grant of 20 000 euros from the city of Tallinn, Award for Best Director, grant of 5000€ from Alexela


