Beirut festival crowns ‘Girl in Room’

The 17th edition of the Beirut International Film Festival (BIFF) has presented SGBL Award to the Iranian short film ‘A Girl in the Room’.

‘A Girl in the Room’ was picked as the best short title at this edition of the Lebanese event, the festival organizers announced on Thursday.

Directed by Karim Lakzadeh, the 27-minute film tells the story of an old man and his friends at a guesthouse. They are preparing to welcome the man’s daughter who is returning from Germany to visit her father after 25 years.

Iranian director Hossein Rabiei-Dastjerdi’s ‘The Guy Came on Horseback’ was also selected as the 3rd Best Short Film of the event.

Rabiei-Dastjerdi’s 15-minute film is about a disabled young man who falls in love with the daughter of his neighbor, causing conflict between the two families.

This edition of the BIFF commemorated the late-great Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami by screening his films, including ’24 Frames’, ‘The Wind Will Carry Us’, ‘Through the Olive Trees’, ‘Take Me Home’, ‘The Traveler’, ‘A Taste of Cherry’, ‘Where is My Friend’s Home?’.

The BIFF holds competition in feature and short film sections at domestic, Middle-East and international levels. It is known as the directors’ festival.

The festival has, in the past, been host to renowned directors such as Kiarostami, Francis Ford Coppola, and Marco Mueller.

Launched in 1997, this edition of the BIFF was held on October 4-12, 2017, at Beirut’s Metropolis Empire Sofil, Sursock Museum and Cinéma Montaigne.

MG/MF