There are few shortcuts in life. But finding one is half the fun in the Iranian short film, Funfair, directed by Kaveh Mazaheri and written by him and Sepinood Najian. Our story opens with Sarah (Sonia Sanjari) standing deadly still at a busy intersection. Her husband, Majid (Soroush Saeidi), is concerned about why she froze, but Sarah insists there’s nothing wrong and that she’s merely scared.
“All Sarah has to do is jump in front of a car…and claim the insurance money…”
Later we find that their son, Artin (Artin Rabiei), wants to go to the wonderous playground know as Funfair. Majid, though, has squandered the family’s fortune, and they are deeply in debt. Fortunately (or unfortunately), Majid has a plan, and it’s a simple one. All Sarah has to do is jump in front of a car—preferably a luxury one—and claim the insurance money for her injuries. The duo practice crashing into a moving dumpster in a back alley, but Sarah cannot make it look convincing, so dad has Artin help push his mother in the way.
We have a pretty simple setup, and much of the story is the tension created by Sarah’s hesitance to go through with the scam and Majid’s assurances it won’t be that bad, and it will solve all their financial problems. Overall, Funfair plays out, as you’d expect, in a humorous fashion and is a strangely odd tale of family. Also, that last little button at the end is a doozy; well worth hanging around to the final second.
"…a strangely odd tale of family."
