‘Kupal’ snatches 2 Canadian awards

Iranian drama ‘Kupal’ has bagged two awards at the 2017 Hamilton Film Festival (HUFF) in Canada.

The Iranian film received the Best Feature award in competition with ‘Past Imperfect’, ‘Tempus Tormentum’, ‘Live in Kingston’, ‘Memories of Summer’ and ‘The Lone Paddler’, the festival’s website announced on November 12.

It also brought Levon Haftvan the award for Best Actor while the other nominees in the category were Zuri Francois for ‘Past Imperfect’, André M. Hennicke for ‘The Peculiar Abilities of Mr. Mahler’, Allen Michael Brunet for ‘Bully’ and Tristan McKinnon for ‘Alfred J. Hemlock’.

Directed by Kazem Mollaie, ‘Kupal’ narrates the story of Dr. Ahmad Kupal, who is a taxidermist hunter, when he faces a challenge just before the New Year.

The main cast in 'Kupal' is Levon Haftvan and a smart dog named Sharon plays a key role in the movie.

Nazanin Farahani, Pourya Rahimi-Sam, and Hossein Shamsabadi are among the notable cast of Mollaie’s flick.

Mollaie’s feature film debut attended the competitive section of Fajr Film Festival in February and recently won the best feature award at the ‘Around’ Film Festival in Amsterdam as well as the best foreign film award at the 26th edition of the Berkeley Video & Film Festival in the US.

Born in 1981, Molaie holds a BA in Cinema Directing from Sooreh University of Tehran and is a member of the Iranian Young Cinema Society. He is also a member of the Iranian Alliance of Motion Picture Guilds (Khaneh Cinema) and the Iranian Short Film Association (ISFA). He has been a jury member of the Iranian Short Film Academy and a member of board of directors at ISFA.

Established in 2009, the HUFF runs every year in Hamilton Movie Theater to present the best in new cinema, connect filmmakers and give them another voice, and celebrate the art of movie making from concept to completion.

This edition of the annual HUFF was held in Ontario, Canada, on November 4-12, 2017.

MG/MG