‘The Badger’ crowned best at US fest

The 29th Berkeley Video & Film Festival (BV&FF) in the US has bestowed an award on Iranian feature ‘The Badger’.

Kazem Mollaee’s feature, which recently won the Best Narrative film award at the 27th Austin Film Festival in the US, has now received the grand prize for the best foreign feature at the BV&FF.

‘The Badger’ is about a 40-year-old woman named Soudeh. Soudeh and her son, Matiar, live in an old apartment.

She faces a strange incident right before her second marriage. Once, she hires a pest control company to solve the termite problems in the apartment.

While the pest control company is working, Matiar is recording the procedures, as this is his hobby.

The next day, Matiar gets kidnapped after school, and the kidnapper asks Soudeh for money. Tremendous pressure is put on Soudeh, but the truth hidden beneath will surprise everyone. 

Hassan Majouni, Behnoush Bakhtiyari, Reza Behboudi, Vishka Asayesh, Mehraveh Sharifinia, and Gohar Kheirandish are on the cast list of ‘The Badger’.

‘The Badger’ is the winner of a nomination for best film award at the 13th Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival in the US, which will be held on November 5-15.

Besides ‘The Badger’, Yousef Kargar’s ‘Gabriel’ was also selected as best foreign narrative short at the BV&FF. The film also won the award for best cinematography.

Founded in 1990, the BV&FF provides a venue for independent film and video-makers creating works that challenge and confront notions of Electronic Cinema.

The festival also promotes the individual filmmakers by insuring that their works receive media attention.

The 2020 edition of the BV&FF was launched on October 26 and will hold the closing ceremony on November 1.

MM/MG