Meihodo fest honors Iran’s ‘Coexist’

The third edition of the Annual Meihodo International Youth Visual Media Festival in Japan has honored three Iranian works.

Komeil Soheili’s documentary ‘Coexist’, Maryam Saeedpour’s photo ‘Quarantine’, and Siavash Eydani’s photo ‘The Note’ won the top prizes of the gala.

‘Coexist’ received the grand prize of $10,000.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the awarding ceremony was held online. In a video message published by the organizers, Soheili said, “It’s such an honor and a pleasure for me and the team, and receiving an award provided such great energy to start the year with; I thank you and wish to meet you at the festival in Japan next year in a safer world.”

The 12-minute doc is about a blind captain living on Hormuz Island in Southern Iran.

As the geopolitical tensions increase between Iran and the US, he starts making some traditional bread using three unexpected elements from the island.

Since he is unsighted, he catches fish by his one-of-a-kind ability to hear the sound of fish in the ocean.

Respecting the ancient local culture of the island, he collects the island’s natural salt and its edible red soil to make the bread.

‘Coexist’ has gone on screen at a number of global events, including the Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival in China, the Terres Travel Festival-Films and Creativity in Spain, the Seize the Film in Serbia, where it grabbed the best short film award, and the International Disability Film Festival Breaking Down Barriers in Russia, where it won the award for best short documentary.

Saeedpour’s photo series ‘Quarantine’ won the gold medal in the graphic category and the silver prize went to ‘The Note’.

‘Quarantine’ centers on living in quarantine during the pandemic and ‘The Note’ is a short film about a man who wakes up and finds himself on a bed in the sea.

Theme of the Annual Meihodo International Youth Visual Media Festival was "We Are All in This Together–Unforgettable Moments of 2020".

‘Heimat Europa’ by Isabel Jansson from Germany won the gold prize in the Dramatic Short category and the gold award in the Themed Short section went to ‘Untouchable’ by Pi Chengdong from China.

The Meihodo International Youth Visual Media Festival is one of the largest short film festivals in the world. Founded in 2018, it is an independent visual media festival.

Read more:

Breaking Down Barriers awards Iranian ‘Coexist’

‘Coexist’ grabs award at Seize the Film festival

MG/MG