Iran director wins award at Canada filmfest

Narges Abyar has won an award at the annual Vancouver International Women in Film Festival, Canada.

The acclaimed Iranian director won the best director award at the 12th edition of the festival following the screening of her movie ‘Breath’.

Iranian director/writer Abyar’s movie ‘Breath’ shows how hopes and dreams of many Iranian children were shattered by the flames of the war against Iran that Iraq lit in 1980.

The story of the film begins in the late 1970s in a suburb of Karaj, where Bahar, Nader, Kamal and Maryam live with numerous colorful dreams of their childhood along with their father and granny. The mother of the household, however, has died a few years ago.

The father, who suffers from asthma, works for a shoemaking company. In her dreams, Bahar, who narrates the story of the film, wishes to treat him when she becomes a doctor.

Iranian actors and actresses Gelare Abbasi, Mehran Ahmadi, Jamshid Hashempour, and Shabnam Moqaddami star in ‘Breath’.

‘Breath’ won the Golden Simorgh for Best Film with National View at the 34th Fajr Film Festival held in February, 2016. The film has been acclaimed at various international cinematic events as well.

Now in its 12th year, the annual Vancouver International Women in Film Festival (VIWIFF) showcases an impressive line-up of short, and feature films (narrative, documentary, experimental and animation) by established and emerging women filmmakers from around the world.

The event in Canada was held on March 8-12, 2017.

FM/HY