Writer-director Granaz Moussavi’s second feature When Pomegranates Howl follows Hewad, a nine-year-old boy who supports his family by selling goods from a cart on the harsh streets of Kabul after the death of his father. At home he is also facing the challenge of the forced marriage of his mother to his uncle. He dreams of escaping his war torn poverty existence by becoming a rich and famous actor, taking care of his mum himself and buying his family a fancy new house.
An Australian photojournalist befriends Hewad and starts documenting his life in order to depict an empathetic image of the children of this war-torn society. Inspired by this, Hewad sets out to enlist his friends to help create an imaginary Hollywood style action film. While he and his friends are playing war games on the streets as an audition for the film, tragedy strikes.
When Pomegranates Howl is produced by Christine Williams, Beheer Wardak and Marzieh Vafamehr, and executive produced by Shaun Miller.
The film was financed with assistance from the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund, the South Australian Film Corporation and the Netherlands Embassy Kabul.
When Pomegranates Howl will play Sydney Film Festival in November, and is nominated for the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Youth Feature Film.