12th Cinema Verite announces winners at int’l section

The 12th edition of the Cinema Verite has announced winners at its international section on Sunday.

‘Exodus’ by Bahman Kiarostami was selected as best feature-length documentary in the international competition of the event. It is about the return of undocumented Afghan migrants from Iran following the deep recession facing the country.

The special jury award in the feature-length category went to ‘Alicia’ by Dutch filmmaker Maasja Ooms. It tells the tragic story of Alicia, who is removed from her home when she was just one year old and is placed in an orphanage.

‘Lulu: the Pearl Boxer’ by Tanzanian filmmaker Asimwe John Bibagamba received the special jury award in the medium-length and short documentary sections.

‘Shouting at the Wind’, won the award for best medium-length documentary. It narrates the story of a teenage boy who lives along with his family in the slums of Tehran and dreams of becoming a singer.

The award for best director was presented to Farah Zare’ for her short documentary ‘Mahiak’ about a young woman who plans to marry, but her strange skin problem thwarts her plan.

Winners in the national competition were also honored at the closing ceremony.

‘A House for You’, produced by Mehdi Shah-Mohammadi was picked as best documentary. It is about a young bankrupt person who makes new decisions after he is diagnosed with an advanced cancer.

The audience choice award went to ‘In the Realm of the Spider-tailed Viper’ by Fathollah Amiri. It tells the story of the spider-tailed viper that lives in the western Iranian province of Ilam.

Hossein Torabi, the director of the acclaimed documentary ‘For Freedom’ about the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and Manuchehr Moshiri, who is famous for his social and biographical documentary films, were honored with lifetime achievement awards.

Director of the festival, Mohammad-Mehdi Tabatabainejad, went on stage during the closing ceremony of Iran’s major documentary film festival at Tehran’s Andisheh Hall and said “I just came on stage to express my thanks for your participation, especially for the guests coming from other countries.”

Organized by the Documentary and Experimental Film Center, the first edition of the Cinema Verite was held in 2007.

Over the past decade it has emerged as one of the important events on Iran's documentary film calendar.

According to the organizers of the festival, this year’s edition of the event was held in Iranian cities of Isfahan, Bushehr, Tabriz, Sari, and Shiraz in addition to Tehran simultaneously.

The 12th edition of the Cinema Verite was held on December 9-16, 2018.

MG/MG