Serbia awards ‘7 Symphonies of Zagros’

The 31st edition of the International Festival of Ethnological Films in Serbia has awarded Iranian documentary ‘Seven Symphonies of Zagros’.

The Iranian documentary, directed by Parviz Rostami, won the Dobrivoje Pantelic Award at the Serbian event in Belgrade.

The Dobrivoje Pantelic award is dedicated to the best film about indigenous culture in independent production.

The fest’s jury, comprising Sandrine Loncke, Meghanne Barker and Ivan Milosavljevic, stated “‘Seven Symphonies of Zagros’ is a lyrical documentary, full of gorgeous scenes of the countryside … It presents a timeless portrait of an artist whose flute has united members of his Kurdish community for decades; it presents the gaze of a true author and poet.”

‘Seven Symphonies of Zagros’ narrates the philosophy of seven musical maqams of the ancient Kurdish wind instrument, Shamshal, in the life of the people in the Zagros region.

The film is the monologue of an old man who spent 65 years of his life playing Shamshal.

The story of the film is character-oriented and the philosophy of the seven maqams in his life is implied.

Seven is regarded as a sacred number in different religions, and the content of the film is related to this concept.

The International Festival of Ethnological Film in Belgrade is an event that offers an insight into a wide range of ethnographic film themes and presents the work of filmmakers who explore both the traditional and modern lifestyles of human communities; it offers diverse insights, film forms and methodologies.

The International Festival of Ethnological Film was established in 1992 and mostly presented the national TV production on folklore and customs of the Balkan and Slavic peoples. Over the years, the Festival began to cover a wide variety of issues in cultural and social anthropology around the world.

The 31st edition of the Serbian fest was held on October 3-6, 2022.

MG/MG