36th Tehran shortfest announces winners

The winners of the 36th edition of the Tehran International Short Film Festival (TISFF) have been announced during the closing ceremony on Friday.

Held at the conference hall of Tehran’s Milad Tower, the closing ceremony was attended by director of Cinema Organization of Iran, Hossein Entezami.

Iranian short filmmakers need to have their own film markets in the world, he said during his brief speech at the ceremony.

Entezami also noted that “If short films find their own markets, filmmakers will last more in this field.”

‘Brotherhood’ by Canada-based Tunisian director Meryam Joobeur received the grand prize of the international competition. It depicts the tensions in a Tunisian family when their older son, who has been away for several years, returns home with a new Syrian wife who wears a full mask, igniting his father’s suspicions that his son has been fighting for Daesh.

‘Super Comfort’ by Kirsikka Saari from Finland was named best fiction film, ‘Histories of Wolves’ by Agnes Meng from Portugal won best documentary award, and best animation award went to ‘Untravel’ by Ana Nedelijkovic and Nikola Majdak Jr. from Serbia.

‘Places’ by Claudia Barral Magaz from Spain received the award for best experimental film while ‘Ashmina’ by Dekel Berenson from Nepal and ‘Each Other’ by Sara Tabibzadeh from Iran shared the special jury award.

In the national competition section, ‘Aziz’ by Seyyed-Mehdi Mousavi-Barzoki won awards in four main categories, including best film and best director.

‘Aziz’ is about a family, whose father has just died and at his funeral, a strange woman claims that she was one of his acquaintances.

Yasaman Nasiri received the best actress award for her role in ‘Aziz’ and Mostafa Bahmani won the best sound designer award for his collaboration in the film.

The award for best experimental film was presented to ‘When a Woman Is Seated beside a Flower, She Will Be Tired after 154 Years’ by Shahriar Hanifeh.

‘Where the Wind Is Blowing’ by Mina Mashhadi-Mehdi was named best documentary and the award for best animation went to ‘Hunger’ by Zahra Rostampour.

The UNICEF award was presented to Canada-based Iranian director Maryam Zarei for Iran-Canada’s ‘Magralen’.

‘Alley’ by Mohammad-Reza Mesbah received the audience award of the festival, while the Association Internationale du Film d’Animation (ASIFA) award was presented to ‘Gray Body’ by Samaneh Shojaee.

Organized by Iranian Youth Cinema Society (IYCS), affiliated to the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and a member of the International Short Film Conference, the TISFF is aimed to provide an opportunity for young filmmakers to exchange their experiences.

The 36th TISFF was held on November 10-15, 2019.

MG/MG