‘The Recess’ crowned best at C.M.U. Santa María de Europa

Iranian short film ‘The Recess’ has claimed new award at the 23rd C.M.U. Santa María de Europa in Spain.

Written and directed by Navid Nikkhah-Azad, ‘The Recess’ was honored with the best short film award in the General Category competition section of the event, which took place on April 18-25, 2022 at the Santa María de Europa Residence Hall in Madrid, Spain.

Iran-Spain short film claimed the honor in competition with nine other short films from Spain and France.   

Translated into ‘El Recreo’ in the Spanish language, the 12-minute ‘The Recess’ is co-produced by Nikkhah-Azad and Delia Guerra Para.  

The flick is about a 17-year-old school-girl who runs away from school to watch the football match of her beloved club.  

Sahar, along with three of her friends, is planning to exit the school during the break in order to watch the match between Esteghlal FC and Al Ain FC at Azadi Sports Complex.

Mozhan Kordi, Reyhaneh Naieean, Niloufar Shokouhinia, and Ghazal Khalili are on the cast list.

‘The Recess’ has competed in 92 international film festivals and has grabbed 17 awards, some of which include the best short fiction film award from the 5th IPSMF (Int’l Photography and Short Movie Festival) in Indonesia, the best short film awards at the 2021 Int’l Film Festival for Human Rights in Colombia, the 18th Progeny Short Film Festival, the 24th Johns Hopkins Film Festival, the 12th IndieFEST Film Awards as well as the 15th San Francisco Frozen Film Festival, all held in the US.

Recently, ‘The Recess’ appeared at the 11th Festival Nacional de Cine Estudiantil (FENACIES) in Uruguay’s capital Montevideo, the 28th Adana Golden Boll Int’l Film Festival in Turkey, the 22nd Ojai Film Festival, the 17th Utopia Film Festival, the 20th Route 66 American Short Film Festival, the 15th Crossroads Int’l Short Film Festival in Turkey, the Int’l Social Film Festival of Castilla-La Mancha in Spain, the 15th Media Arts Council festival (MAC), the 14th Fastnet Film Festival in Ireland and the 24th East Lansing Film Festival, all in the US.

Among the international screenings of the flick at Spanish film festivals include the 49th Curtas Festival de Imaxinario, the 2th Almeria Int’l Film Festival (FICAL) and the 43rd Lugo Film Week (SICA).

The University Short Film Contest ‘C.M.U. Santa María De Europa’ is an annual student-run film festival that aims to support the production of short films by university students and encourage their professional development.

MM/FM