Iran ‘Animal’ wins 2nd Cinéfondation at Cannes 2017

The 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival has announced winners of the Cinéfondation and Short Films categories.

The Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury awarded the 2017 Cinéfondation Prizes during a ceremony held in the Buñuel Theatre, followed by the screening of the winning films.

The jury comprised of Cristian Mungiu, Clotilde Hesme, Athina Rachel Tsangari, Barry Jenkins and Eric Khoo, who presented the second prize to ‘Animal’ directed by Bahram Ark and Bahman Ark and produced by Iranian National School of Cinema.

The first and third prizes, respectively, went to ‘Paul Is Here’ by Valentina Maurel from Belgium and ‘Two Youths Died’ by Tommaso Usberti from France.

The Cinéfondation allotted a €15,000 grant for the first prize, €11,250 for the second and €7,500 for the third. The winner of the first prize is also guaranteed the presentation of first feature film at the Cannes Film Festival.

The awarded films are to be screened at the Cinéma du Panthéon in Paris on May 30. All the films of the Cinéfondation selection will go on screen at the Cinémathèque Française on May 31st and June 1st.

This year’s selection committee received more than 4,800 films while more than half of the titles were from Europe, with the rest spread across the globe.

‘Lunch Time’ by Alireza Ghasemi was the other representative of Iran at the Short Films Competition.

Iranian animation ‘Release from Heaven’ also won an award at the Animation Day in the event.

The 70th edition of Cannes Film Festival is currently underway in the French city of Cannes. Run-time for the event is from May 17-28, 2017.

The objective of the Animation Day in Cannes is to facilitate the promotion of Animation during the Cannes Film Festival, which does not traditionally offer a window for animators.

MG/AI