‘Driving Lessons’ to vie at Elles Font Leur Cinema

Marzieh Riahi’s acclaimed fiction ‘Driving Lessons’ is set to vie at the Elles Font Leur Cinema in France.

The 9th edition of the French film event will host Riahi’s 13-minute film.

‘Driving Lessons’ narrates the story of Bahareh, who, according to Iranian law, must have her husband accompany her during driving lessons so that she and her instructor are not left alone together without a third party presence.

‘Driving Lessons’ stars Linda Kiani, Alireza Sanifar, Salar Khamseh, and Sanaz Mesbah.

‘Driving Lessons’ has gone on screen at several global events, including the 49th Tampere Film Festival in Finland, the 59th Cartagena Film Festival in Colombia, as well as the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, the 42nd Mill Valley Film Festival, the 2020 Big Muddy Film Festival, the 2020 Houston Iranian Film Festival, and the 50th Nashville Film Festival, all in the US, as well as the 12th Elles Tournent Festival in Belgium, the 2020 Dhaka International Film Festival in Bangladesh, the 10th Karama Human Rights Film Festival in Jordan, the 32nd Exground Film Festival in Germany, the 17th Shnit Worldwide Short Film Festival in Switzerland, as well as the 2nd Best of Fests of the North Texas Film Festivals and the 21st Through Women’s Eyes International Film Festival in the US.

The film won the best short film at the 22nd edition of the Religion Today Film Festival in Italy, the best non-Irish short award at the Dublin Feminist Film Festival in Ireland, the Golden Apricot for best short film at the 16th Golden Apricot International Film Festival in Yerevan, Armenia, the Special Jury Award at the 13th Film Festival for Women’s Rights (FIWOM) in South Korea, Best Long Narrative award at the 42nd Big Muddy Film Festival in the US, and best short drama at the 13th edition of the ‘I Will Tell International Film Festival’ in London.

Elles Font Leur Cinéma organizes an annual women's film festival in March at the Omnia-République Rouen cinema.

Documentaries, fictions, short, long and medium-length films from women directors around the world are screened, highlighting the emancipation of women, their commitments, their struggles, their political and artistic expressions.

The festival is set for March 19-22, 2020.

MM/FM