No. 63 · Music Video
Dereng
Directed by Maryam Mahdizadeh
Iran · 7 min
Dereng follows a man who loses his pregnant wife and unborn child after missing her critical call. Consumed by guilt, he hallucinates them and clings to a doll symbolizing his lost child. Overwhelmed by grief, he takes his own life, but his wife’s spirit appears and takes the doll away.
Streams 21 September 2026 to 28 September 2026, Berlin time. Every ticket is one Audience Award vote.
Trailer
About the film
Dereng follows a man who fails to answer a critical call from his pregnant wife and tragically loses both her and their unborn child. Consumed by guilt and grief, he begins hallucinating them, unable to distinguish reality from illusion. He finds a child’s doll and clings to it as a symbol of the child he lost. Desperate to reunite with his family, he eventually decides to take his own life. Lying inside a coffin with the doll, he sees his wife’s spirit appear. She takes the doll into her arms and turns away, denying him their child even in death.
Content notes: Suicide
- Runtime
- 7 min
- Category
- Music Video
- Country
- Iran
- Year
- 2025
- Language
- Kurdish
- Aspect ratio
- Other
Stills
Maryam Mahdizadeh
Maryam Mahdizadeh (born February 4, 1990) is an Iranian artist working across graphic design, cinema, and painting. Holding a Master’s degree in Graphic Design, she has over a decade of experience in visual arts and filmmaking. Her portfolio includes editing more than 20 films and TV productions and color grading over 50 projects. She has also worked in directing, photography, poster design, ethnology, and acting. Mahdizadeh’s artistic approach combines symbolic and integrative visual language, focusing on personal and human inner worlds rather than simply representing reality. Symbolism plays a central role in her directing and defines her distinctive artistic style.
— Director’s statement
How many moments in our lives are shaped by hesitation by the delay in making a decisive choice? Dereng is a visual simulation of the inevitability of time, exploring how its relentless rhythm intertwines with our destinies and decisions.
Credits
- Directed by
- Maryam Mahdizadeh
- Written by
- Sipan Rojhilat
- Produced by
- Sipan Rojhilat
- Production company
- Sipan Rojhilat
- Cinematography
- Mehdi Rahimi
- Editing
- Mehdi Rahimi
- Production design
- Mehdi Rahimi
- Sound
- Elende Usiv
- Music
- Elende Usiv
- Principal cast
- Farzad Hassanmirzaei Zozan Pileh
— Festivals and awards
AFAQ Film Festival (Awards) Kobane Film Festival (Selection Sweden Film Awards (Selection)
Dereng is part of the Official Selection of the BIUFF Founding Edition 2026.