Iranian films bag several awards at SIFF in Iraq

The Slemani International Film Festival (SIFF) in Iraq has announced the winners of its 5th edition, with Iranian films bagging several awards.

According to Iran’s ISNA news agency, Asghar Farhadi’s feature ‘Hero’ won the Golden Pine for best film as well as the best screenplay award.

‘A Hero’ is about Rahim, a divorced man who has been imprisoned due to unpaid debt. During a two-day leave, Rahim tries to prove that he is a good person.

The movie is shortlisted for the Best International Feature Film category of the 94th Academy Awards.

Meanwhile, Mohsen Tanabandeh won the Best Actor award for his role in ‘3Puffs’.

‘3Puffs’ by Saman Salour is about Mojtaba and Nasim, a young couple who just had a baby.

According to a synopsis for the film, they reside in the southern part of Tehran, “yet they are relatively happy. Mojtaba sells disposable plastic dishes and Nasim makes dolls at home. After Mojtaba’s accident, strange events occurred in their life and Nasim realized that her husband was a drug trafficker. Nasim did all to save her family and turned into a trafficker in no time.”

The SIFF also named ‘White Clad’, written and directed by Reza Fahimi, the Best International Short Film.

The film is about an old woman who gives a block of local cheese she has made to Ahmad, a 10-year-old boy, in order to give it to his father, who is a teacher in the village, so the father can mediate and stop the execution of her young son.

The 5th edition of the SIFF took place on December 17-23, 2021.

SQ/MM