The Route (2024 film)

How it feels

A truck driver transports prisoners to execution sites in a barren wartime landscape. The film has no dialogue and follows his silent journey.

bleaksilenttensesomberslow-burnpainterlyminimalistunsettling

What happens

The Route (Persian: راه, Rah) is a 2024 Iranian animated short film written, directed, and produced by Babak Beigi. The 19-minute war drama follows a truck driver assigned to transport prisoners to execution sites in a bleak, unnamed landscape. Told entirely without dialogue, the film explores themes of guilt, complicity, and moral numbness in the face of wartime violence. The film was independently produced in Iran using 2D computer animation, with Beigi also serving as editor, character designer, and colorist. It premiered in the Grand Competition for short films at the Animafest Zagreb in June 2024, and was later screened at the Seoul Indie-AniFest in South Korea, the Tehran International Short Film Festival, the Tokyo Anime Award Festival (as one of 26 international finalists), and the IMAXINARIA Festival Internacional de Animación Afundación in Spain. In 2025, the film received a Special Distinction of the Jury at the Insomnia International Animation Film Festival in Russia. It was also screened at the Iranian Film Festival New York, where it was praised for its painterly visual style and minimalist storytelling. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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