‘Bandar Band’ hailed at Indian Rain Nature fest

The 4th edition of the Rain International Nature Film Festival (RINFF) in India has bestowed the best film award upon ‘Bandar Band’ from Iran.

‘Bandar Band’, a feature film by Iranian female filmmaker Manijeh Hekmat, has succeeded to grab the Golden Elephant Award from the 2022 edition of the Indian screening event. 

‘Bandar Band’ is about pregnant Mahla along with the other members of a music band named Bandar Band, her husband and one of their closest friends. They start their journey to Tehran from a southern province just when they have lost all they had in a flood.

They still keep their hopes alive, however, every road they take leads to a dead-end in a flood-stricken land. They intend to go to Tehran, but they wonder if it is just another turn around a vicious circle.

Some of the global appearances of ‘Bandar Band’ include the 30th Films from the South Festival in Norway, the 3rd Hainan Island Int’l Film Festival (HIIFF) in China, the 19th Dhaka Int’l Film Festival (DIFF) in Bangladesh, the 2nd Catalyst Int’l Film Festival in Ireland, the 10th Iranian Film Festival Australia (IFFA) and the 19th Women's Film Festival Dortmund - Cologne in Germany.

It also went on screen at the 43rd Mill Valley Film Festival (MVFF) in the US, the 8th Bosphorus Film Festival in Turkey, the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival, the Beirut International Women Film Festival in Lebanon and the 2020 Toronto Int’l Film Festival (TIFF) in Canada.

‘Bandar Band’ is the recipient of the Best Film award at the International Competition: Innovation in Moving Images section of the 26th Kolkata Int’l Film Festival in India as well as the NETPAC award of the 6th Ulju Mountain Film Festival (UMFF) in South Korea.

The honorable mention of the 2021 Batumi Int’l Art-House Film Festival (BIAFF) in Georgia has also been bestowed upon Hekmat’s 2020 film production.  

The Rain International Nature Film Festival aims “to bring together ecologically aware filmmakers from around the world in order to showcase their works, facilitating an authentic platform for raising environmental awareness,” writes the online submission platform of the event.

The 4th edition of the festival took place in Kerala on February 26-27.

Also watch:

‘Bandar Band’ releases trailer

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