Iran films snatch 2 Dhaka filmfest awards

Iran features have won two awards at the 16th edition of the Dhaka International Film Festival (DIFF) in Bangladesh.

The festival organizers announced winners of the 16th DIFF during a closing ceremony held at the Bangladesh National Museum at the weekend.

Iranian cinematographer Masoud Salami won the Best Cinematography Award in Competition of the Australasian Film Section for ‘Asphyxia’ directed by Fereydoun Jeyrani.

“Masoud’s wife suffers from nervous tensions and he has to take her to the psychiatric hospital,” a brief synopsis for the film reads.

Navid Mohammadzadeh, Elnaz Shakerdoust, Mahaya Petrosian, Pardis Ahmadieh, Gholam-Hossein Lotfi, Ehsan Amani, Asadollah Yekta and Poulad Kimyaei are in the cast.

The movie received the Crystal Simorgh awards for best special effects and best photography at the 35th Fajr Film Festival last February.

Iran’s ‘White Bridge’, produced and directed by Ali Qavitan, received the DIFF’s Best Children Film Badal Rahman Award.

The 80-minute flick stars Bahareh Norouzi, and Sediqeh Norouzian, as well as the director Qavitan.

It tells the story of a school-girl, Bahareh, who gets disabled in an accident just a few months after the start of the school year. According to the Ministry of Education, she must continue her education in a special school. But Bahareh refuses to go to that special school and tries to convince her former school to accept her. However, it seems impossible for her to return to the regular school and she remains stranded. Bahareh and her mother have to fight to overcome the challenge.

The Dhaka International Film Festival is a biennial film festival held in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Established in 1992, the festival is one of the most prestigious film events in Bangladesh, dedicated to introduce the mainstream global cinema to the local filmmakers as well as to promote healthy cine culture within Bangladesh.

The event has been slated for January 12-20, 2018.

MG/MF