Iranian doc ‘Sunless Shadows’ wins at Chinese fest

Iranian documentary ‘Sunless Shadows’ has garnered the Best Documentary Award at the 7th edition of the Silk Road International Film Festival (SRIFF) in China.

Made by Mehrdad Oskouee, the documentary narrates the story of five young women who are jailed in a small juvenile detention center for murder.

Through breathtaking monologues, the women clarify the circumstances of the murders and even their motives.

Occasionally, the documentarian leaves the women alone with the camera, allowing it to become a tool for them to address both their victims in the afterlife and their accomplices.

‘Sunless Shadows’ was named the Opening Film of the 2019 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, which was the film’s international premiere and brought the festival’s best director award to Oskouee.

The Iranian doc also opened the 11th Middle East Now festival in Italy and grabbed Silver Horn award for the Best Director and the Student Jury award at the 60th Krakow Film Festival in Poland.

The 74-minute documentary has also gone on screen at some global events, including the Millennium Festival in Belgium, the Munich International Documentary Film Festival in Germany, the Cannes online Film Market in France, and the 17th Big Sky International Film Festival in the US, where it received the Special Jury Award.

Iranian well-known director Asghar Farhadi was the chairman of the jury panel at the 7th SRIFF.

The annually-held Chinese festival aims to promote cultural exchange among countries and to develop Chinese audiovisual industry.

The festival includes sections of Competition, Film Panorama, Film Forum, Film Market and Interactive Activities.

Due to the situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the event was held online on October 12-17, 2020.

PR/MG