Estonia’s Pärnu nominates Iran ‘Beloved’

The 33rd Pärnu International Documentary and Anthropology Film Festival in Estonia has nominated Iranian documentary ‘Beloved’ for Estonian People's Award.

Directed by Yasser Talebi, ‘Beloved’ is about the difficult but favorable life of an 83-year-old mother named Firouzeh who runs a unique life in the Alborz Mountains in north Iran.

Firouzeh hikes across the rugged landscape carrying bundles of wood. When she was a young girl, a marriage was arranged for her with an older man, with whom she had 11 children. Now, none of her children come to visit her and her attempts to get closer to them remain futile.

The 63-minute documentary has attended many global event, including the 2018 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam in the Netherlands, the 16th Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in the US, the 69th Berlin International Film Festival in Germany, the 37th Fajr Film Festival in Iran, the 38th International Istanbul Film Festival in Turkey, and the 67th Trento International Film Festival in Italy where it won the jury special mention and a UNESCO honorable mention.

Most recently it received the best feature documentary award and a diploma at the 15th Kazan International Muslim Film Festival in the Republic of Tatarstan and a special mention at the 25th Shanghai TV Festival in China.

‘Beloved’ has also taken the first place among the top five mid-length films selected by the Canadian audience at the 26th Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto.

The Pärnu International Documentary and Anthropology Film Festival is the oldest of its kind in the Baltic countries.

One of the main themes of the Pärnu is survival of indigenous peoples and their cultures. The screening program also includes social interpretations of contemporary society, portraits of interesting people and human relations as well as films on music and art.

The 33rd edition of the event began on June 25 and will wrap up on July 14.

MG/MG