VGIK Int’l Student Festival honors Iran’s ‘Zari’

The 42nd VGIK International Student Festival in Moscow, Russia has honored Iranian short documentary ‘Zari’.

Made by Iranian director Arman Qolipour-Dashtaki, ‘Zari’ has been named the best short documentary of the 2022 edition of the Russian screening event.   

The film is about a rural woman who lives in Iran’s southwestern province of Khuzestan.

Zari was different from other rural women. She drives a pickup truck and distributed gas among residents in 16,000 villages.

‘Zari’ made its debut screening at the 70th Trento Film Festival in Italy, where it received the Amelia de Eccher award of the event.

The VGIK festival is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Presidential Grants Fund, and the National Fund of Right Holders. 

The festival aims to recognize and encourage young talents.

The VGIK International Student Festival was held in two stages. The first one was organized from October 17 to 28, and the second stage was held from November 14 to 18.

Films by students from Britain, Italy, the US, France, Germany, China, Brazil, Argentina and several other countries were presented during the festival.

MM/AG