Iranian Film Festival Australia honors ‘Castle of Dreams’

Reza Mirkarimi’s drama ‘Castle of Dreams’ has succeeded to win awards in four categories, including best film and best screenplay at the 9th edition of the Iranian Film Festival Australia (IFFA).

‘Castle of Dreams’ also brought Jila Shahi and Hamed Behdad the awards for best actress and best actor.

Producer Qolamreza Mousavi, editor Hayedeh Safiyari, actor Parsa Pirouzfar, writer and journalist Mansour Zabetian, and actress Parinaz Izadyar were the members of the jury.

‘Castle of Dreams’ narrates the story of a 42-year-old father of two named Jalal Moradi who is sent to prison for accidentally killing someone. After getting out of prison, Jalal leaves his wife and kids and moves to another city. Two years later, he must go back to his hometown as his wife is brain-dead.

Hamed Behdad, Mohammad Asgari, Zhila Shahi, Akbar Ayeen, Azadeh Nobahar, Mohammad Ashkanfar, Youna Tadayyon, and Niyousha Alipour make the cast list of the flick.

Mirkarimi’s 86-minute film has had a big number of festival screenings to date and it has won various awards as well, the most recent of which include the Golden Punt award from the 39th Cambridge Film Festival in the UK, the Best Film and Best Director awards at the 18th Dhaka International Film Festival in Bangladesh, the Audience Award at  the 9th ÍRÁN:CI film festival in Serbia as well as the Best Film and the Best Child Actor awards at the 15th Int’l Film Festival of Family and Children’s Films “In the Family Circle” in Russia.

Mohsen Tanabandeh was also selected as best director for his drama ‘The Oath’, which was picked as best audience film.

The jury special award of the IFFA was handed to Reza Jamali for ‘Old Men Never Die’.

The Iranian Film Festival Australia helps better familiarize the Australian audience with Iranian culture, featuring Iranian stories in movie theaters in the various cities of Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Canberra.

The awards ceremony of the 9th edition of the festival was held on January 19, 2021.

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