“The Old Young Crow”: Arian Moayed and Rayka Zehtabchi EP Oscar-winning short film

EXCLUSIVE: Two-time Tony and Emmy Award-nominated actor Arian Moayed (Succession) and Oscar-winning filmmaker Rayka Zehtabchi (Period of time. End of sentence.) joined Liam LoPinto’s Oscar-winning live-action short film The old young crow as executive producers.

The news comes as a short recently screened at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival and the AFI on the festival grounds, with the short winning Best Short at the former festival after winning Best Narrative at Palm Springs ShortFest. It also follows the announcement that Moayed will serve as an executive producer JoonamAn Oscar-winning short film about the Iranian-American experience in Sierra Urich.

Now also on board The old young crowThe EP team consists of Scott Aharoni (Lilac, Lesson Criminals), the award-winning director and producer who co-founded the indie entertainment company Curious Gremlin. Other EPs include Mamak Shahbazi and Bill LoPinto. Pic’s co-producers are Keisuke Sakuma, Keiko Yamashita (who also stars), Byron Gould and Shohreh Golparian.

LoPinto relies on his old sketchbook to tell the story of Mehrdad, an old man looking back on his time as a boy in Tokyo, in his short film. The short film focuses in particular on his encounter with an old Japanese woman in a cemetery who takes him on a stormy spiritual journey through her past.

Moayed called LoPinto “a creative voice that should be both cherished and nurtured” and shared that he was “extremely pleased” to be involved in the filmmaker’s “innovative” new short. The project, he said, “is an example of the kind of stories Iranians and Iranian-Americans want to tell.” In a time and place where Iranians rarely get to tell their complex and meaningful stories, it’s refreshing to be immersed in Liam’s worldview so that audiences can better understand the beauty of Iran and its people.

Zehtabchi added: “The old young crow is refreshingly original and boldly walks the line between fiction, documentary and animation. Liam is an exciting new voice in our Iranian film community and it is an honor to support his project as executive producer.”

A first-generation Iranian-American filmmaker and animator from New York City, LoPinto focuses his work on diaspora, refugees, immigrants and dissenters. His previous filmography includes the short film French bow tieselected for BLA’s Moebius showcase and documentary Karam cameracreated in collaboration with the Karam Foundation, the organization founded by Lina Sergie Attar that promotes education and development for young Syrian refugees.

He is best known for his role as Stewy Hosseini on HBO Successionand for his Tony-nominated work in Bengal tiger in Baghdad Zoo And A dollhouseIranian-American Moayed is co-founder of Waterwell, which engages in community organizing through artwork to highlight social and systemic issues. One of his works is the immigration drama The courtroombased on Moayed’s play, which premiered at the Tribeca Festival.

Behind it was an Iranian-American director and producer, Zehtabchi Period of time. End of sentence., the Netflix short documentary that won an Oscar in 2019. Pic told the story of a group of village women in northern India who started a sanitary napkin company to improve female hygiene and destigmatize menstruation in their community. Zehtabchi has also directed several brand documentaries including United O, They came from everywhereAnd A place for women, which can be seen on Hulu. Her most recent short documentary, Long line ladiesfollows a girl and her community as they prepare for their Ihuk, the once-dormant coming-of-age ceremony of the Karuk tribe of Northern California.

Moayed is represented by Kipperman Management and Schreck Rose Dapello; Zehtabchi by Granderson Des Rochers.