Festival Season:
April 2026
BOY OR GIRL
Directors:
Writers:
Kianoush Eslami
Kianoush Eslami
Producers:
Mansour Balali
Run Time:
0:10:59
Awarded for the following Category(s):
Awarded Category(s)
A father who suspects that his daughter is pregnant from an illegitimate relationship because of her nausea, accidentally hears a voice message from a man to his daughter who says that they cannot keep the baby. The father strangles his daughter in her sleep, but he is faced with a surprising result…
Submitter Statement
Human Rights Watch has described honor killing as follows: This crime is committed by male members of the family against female members of the family due to the perception that the woman has dishonored the family. According to some statistics, honor killings in Iran account for 20% of all murders in the country. What makes the murderers of honor killings in Iran and some neighboring countries feel free to kill their wives, daughters, or sisters, is that they consider themselves to be divine executioners and are proud of it. But some psychologists believe the main cause of these crimes is mental and personality disorders.
**Kianoush Eslami - Writer, Director, and Producer**
* Born in 1976, Shahr-e Rey.
* Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Tehran - Faculty of Engineering.
**Awards and Recognitions:**
* **Winner, Best True Story** at the **World Film Festival in Cannes 2025** for the short film "Two Slaps".
* **Winner, Best Director** at the **Soulplace Film Festival, Italy 2025** for directing "Two Slaps".
* **Winner, Best Short Drama Film** at the **Touchstone Independent Film Festival, USA 2025** for "Two Slaps".
* **Nominated for Best Film** at the **Ciputra Film Festival, Indonesia 2025** for "Two Slaps".
* **Finalist for Best Film** at the **Selma Cinema Festival, USA** for "Two Slaps" (2025).
* **Certificate of Appreciation** for "Two Slaps" from the **Various Artist Independent Film Festival, Chicago, USA 2025**.
* **Nominated for an Award** at the **Planet Frame Film Festival, USA** for producing the short film "Crossing" (2025).
* **Winner, Special Jury Prize** at the **Soulplace Film Festival, Italy 2025** for the short film "Staccato".
* Short film "Staccato" (Producer and Director) – **Finalist** at the **Kobani International Film Festival 2025, Germany**.
* Short film "Two Slaps" (Producer, Director, and Writer) – **Finalist** at the **Kobani International Film Festival 2025, Germany**.
* **Certificate of Appreciation for Best Film** from the **Cannes Short Film Festival** for the short film "An Understanding" (Writer and Director, 2023).
* **Certificate of Appreciation** for the film "Polluted Air" (Director) at the **Ceylon International Film Festival, USA 2022**.
* **Finalist** at the **Best Director Award Festival, London** for the film "Polluted Air" (2021).
* **Finalist** at the **European Film Festival Integration You and Me, Poland 2025** for the film "Staccato".
**Teaching Experience:**
* Teaching screenwriting and film directing courses at Rozaneh and Iran training centers.
* Teaching screenwriting and character analysis at the Art University - Tehran (University of Art of the Revolution Complex).
**Directing and Production (Selected Filmography - Feature & Short Films):**
* Writer, Director, and Producer of the feature video film "The Road of Termites" (2020).
* Writer, Director, and Producer of the feature video film "Maze" (2015).
* Writer and Director of the feature video film "The Gap", produced by Rahman Rezaei.
* Writer and Director of the feature video film "Side Curve", produced by Farid Valizadeh (2011).
* Writer and Director of the feature video film "The Beautiful Eyes of the Top Floor", produced by Ayoub Shams (2013).
* Writer, Director, and Producer of the medium-length film "Get Her Heart" (2011).
* Director of the short film "Polluted Air" (2020).
* Writer and Director of the short film "An Understanding" (2022).
* Writer and Director of the short film "Boy or Girl" (2022).
* Writer and Director of the short film "Copy Writer" (2022).
* Writer and Director of the short film "Tiger" (2023).
* Writer, Director, and Producer of the short film "Two Slaps" (2023).
* Writer and Director of the short film "Point Out That Man" (2023).
* Writer and Director of the short film "Insect" (2024).
* Director of the short film "Staccato" (2024).
* Director of the short film "The Last Will of a Clown" (2024).
**Screenwriting (Selected Works - Series, TV Films, Feature Films):**
* Writer of the series "Traveler of Time".
* Writer of the TV films "Tavakkol", "Tafakhor", and "Mojrem", produced by Dariush Babaian, broadcast on Tehran Network.
* Writer of the feature video film "Main Reasons", produced by Amirhossein Sharifi.
* Writer of the feature video film "Don't Think Bad", produced by Ali Sadeghi and directed by Bahram Kazemi.
* Writer of the feature video film "Lonelier Than Me", produced by Farid Valizadeh.
* Writer of the feature video film "The Beggars of Tehran", produced by Dariush Babaian.
* Writer of the feature video film "Honey Loan", produced by Farid Valizadeh.
* Writer of the feature video film "Black Stain", produced by Farhad Goli.
* Writer of the feature video film "The Torch", produced by Mehdi Raeisi, directed by Siamak Khajehvand.
* Writer of the feature video film "Slippage", produced by Dariush Babaian.
* Writer of the feature video film "Devil's Mirror", produced and directed by Farid Valizadeh.
* Writer of the feature film "Count to Ten", produced by Farid Valizadeh.
* Writer of the feature video film "Blackmail", directed by Amir Momeni Asl, produced by Parviz Ghadsi (2017).
* Writer of the feature video film "Come Beside Me", directed by Siamak Khajehvand, produced by Maryam Ebrahimvand (2022).
* Writer of the series "Ahan Parast" (Iron Lover/Worshipper), produced by Shiva Shokri (2024).
Key Cast
Other Credits