German GWFF honors ‘District Terminal’

The GWFF (Gesellschaft zur Wahrnehmung von Film- und Fernsehrechten) in Germany has honored ‘District Terminal’ with a special jury mention.

The jury composed of critic Carmen Gray, curator Azu Nwagbogu and film expert Wieland Speck honored the movie co-directed by Bardia Yadegari and Ehsan Mirhosseini.

 A co-production from Iran and Germany, ‘District Terminal’ is about a drug-addicted poet named Peyman who lives with his mother in a Tehran neighborhood during the pandemic and attempts to finish a poem about his city that falls prey to pollution and the lethal virus.

The cast list of the film includes Yadegari, Maryam Moradi, and Ali Kamali.

‘District Terminal’ has already taken part in global events such as the Hong Kong International Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) in Germany.

The Berlinale published a jury statement that reads the film is “a world of blurry presence and future, framed by drug addiction and physical decay; a situation populated by ancestors, threatened by an avalanche of ruinous waste.”

The GWFF is a society dedicated to safeguarding film and television rights.

Since 2006, when it introduced the GWFF Best First Feature Award, the Berlinale has been even more committed to supporting the next generation of filmmakers.

The award is endowed with 50,000 Euros, donated by the GWFF. The prize money is to be split between the producer and the director of the winning film.

Additionally, the director will be awarded with a high-quality viewfinder as both a useful instrument and memorable trophy.

In total, 13 directorial feature film debuts from the sections Encounters, Panorama, Forum, Generation and Perspektive Deutsches Kino were nominated for the GWFF Best First Feature Award.

The award will be presented during the official award ceremony at the Freiluftkino Museumsinsel in Munich on June 13.

MG/MG