French festival nominates Iranian ‘Golnesa’

The 3rd edition of the Phenicien International Film Festival (PIFF) in France has nominated Iranian feature ‘Golnesa’ for best feature film award.

Directed by Sattar Chamani-Gol and written by Vida Salehi, the Iranian movie tells the story of a young Afghan couple, Golmammad and Golnesa, who are illegal immigrants in Iran.

Working in a traditional brick kiln in the suburbs of Tehran, they have to deal with challenges of illegal immigration as well as various types of routine life hardship.

Saeed Dakh, Saqi Zinati, Yeganeh Rajabi, Ali-Mohammad Radmanesh and Masoud Mohammadi are among the cast.

The film has taken part at some global cinematic events, including the 51st WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival and the 21st Brooklyn Film Festival in the US, the 3rd R.E.D International Film Festival in Norway, the 3rd Slemani International Film Festival in Iraq, as well as the 17th Dhaka International Film Festival in Bangladesh.

‘Golnesa’ has grabbed two awards at the 14th Kazan International Festival of Muslim Cinema in the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia, the Best Feature Film award at the 7th Global Nonviolent Film Festival in the US, and the award for best screenplay at the 2nd Sinema Zetu International Film Festival in Tanzania.

Set to run in April, The PIFF aims to celebrate the motion picture and provide a platform for filmmakers to have their work awarded and screened.

MG/AG