Iranian ‘Lotus’ grabs US award

The 16th edition of the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival (BSFI) in the US has honored Iranian documentary ‘Lotus’.

The Iranian documentary won the Artistic Vision Award at the US event.

Made by Mohammad-Reza Vatandoust, the documentary narrates the story of an old woman who has lost her son in war.

Her son’s grave gets buried under water because a dam is constructed in the area that is why she has never been able to see his gravestone.

After 12 years, the woman is in a boat to go and visit her son's graveyard which has now emerged out of the water in the form of a small island.

‘Lotus’ has attended the National competition section and the Shahid Avini Award Competition section at the 11th Iran International Documentary Film Festival of Cinema Verite, the 24th LA Film Festival in the US, the 21st Cervino Cinemountain International Film Festival in Italy, as well as the 25th Sheffield International Documentary Festival.

The BSFI this year featured a special program for Iranian films titled ‘Stories from Iran’. It screened ‘Beloved’ by Yasser Talebi, ‘Aleppo: the Silence of the War’ by Amir Osanlou, ‘Skipper Soleiman’ by Saadat-Ali Saeedpour, as well as ‘Finding Farideh’ by Kourosh Ataee and Azadeh Mousavi.

The BSFI nurtures and elevates non-fiction films that have the power to transform the world, culture, our youth and ourselves.

According to the BSFI website, the festival aims to celebrate and promote the art of nonfiction filmmaking, and to encourage media literacy by fostering public understanding and appreciation of documentary film.

The 16th BSFI was held in the US city of Missoula, Montana, on February 15-24, 2019.

MG/AG