Brazilian awards go to Iranian titles

The 1st edition of the Alter do Chão Film Festival in Brazil has awarded three Iranian titles.

Produced and directed by Iranian actor-turned-director Behzad Khodaveisi, ‘Daughters of Winter’ won the award for best feature film at the 1st Alter do Chão.

‘Daughters of Winter’ narrates the story of two young girls from a working-class family. Every one of them is bothered somehow, but they try to change their lives and destinies.

The movie has gone on screen at global events such as the 40th Durban International Film Festival in South Africa.

Among the cast are Hamoun Seyyedi, Mahtab Servati, Niloufar Koukhani, Amir-Hossein Hemmati, Aqil Bahrami, Nasim Afsharpour, Ladan Nazi, Behnam Qorbani, Sara Abedi, and the director Khodaveisi.

Iranian-Afghan production ‘Elephantbird’ won the best short film award at the Alter do Chão.

Directed by Amir-Masoud Soheili, a synopsis for the film reads “The last wish of an old Afghan man is to give his ‘elephant-bird’ (turkey) to his grandchild, but this simple wish is hard to realize”.

‘Elephantbird’ has gone on screen at several global events, including the 14th Batumi International Art-House Film Festival in Georgia, the 2019 Brno 16 International Short Film Festival in the Czech Republic, and the 16th Sedicicorto International Film Festival in Italy where it received the Special Jury Award.

‘For Amir’ by Iranian director Javad Hakami received the Brazilian award for best smartphone film.

More than 20 Iranian films went on the screen at various sections of the Alter do Chão Film Festival. The event was held on October 21-27, 2019.

MG/MG