Iranian Film Festival Zurich awards ‘District Terminal’

The 8th edition of the Iranian Film Festival Zurich (IFFZ) in Switzerland has picked ‘District Terminal’ as the best film.

Co-directed by Bardia Yadegari and Ehsan Mirhosseini, ‘District Terminal’ is a co-production between Iran and Germany.

The film is about Peyman, a poet living in an old district of Tehran with his mother. Trapped by his drug addiction, poverty and a forbidden love affair, he tries to survive in spite his delusions and increasing loneliness.

Mehdi and Mohammad Torabbeigi’s ‘At the End of Evin’ received an honorable mention. It follows a man, who is planning to have gender reassignment surgery.

Emad Arad and Ziba Karamali’s ‘Barter’ and Elham Esmaeeli’s ‘The Doll’ shared the award for best short film.

‘Barter’ is about Parsa, a 13-year-old boy, who is trying to hide a secret from his father.

‘The Doll’ tells the story of a 35-year-old father who consents to the marriage of his 14-year-old daughter after consulting with his relatives. As individuals with differing perspectives, his family grapples with the decision.

‘Tonight’s Homework’ directed by Ashkan Nejati and Mehran Nematollahi grabbed the award for best documentary.

The initial idea for ‘Tonight’s Homework’ is based on Abbas Kiarostami’s film ‘Homework’, which focused on the challenge of doing assignments at home. But since students today face greater challenges than the issue of homework, it was decided that the film would focus on more relevant aspects of Iran’s educational and developmental systems.

Mojgan Ilanlou’s ‘One Thousand Women’ received an honorable mention. The documentary portrays the obstacles in the way of young Iranian girls who want to engage in wrestling as their favorite sport during the four years of 2016-2020.

The festival honored directors Ida Panahandeh and Daryoush Mehrjouee and actresses Fatemeh Motamed-Arya and Mahtab Keramati with the Golden Cyrus Cylinder.

The 8th edition of the IFFZ was held on May 26-June 1. The organizers announced the winners on Thursday.

The jury panel was formed by Tamara Milosevic, Stefan Haupt, Sophia Rubischung, Helene Aecherli and Daniel Wiegand.

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German GWFF honors ‘District Terminal’

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