Film on plight of Rohingya Muslims awarded in US

Iranian film ‘Buddha’s Shame’ has been awarded at the March 2021 edition of the Independent Shorts Awards (ISA), an international film festival based in the US city of Los Angeles.

‘Buddha’s Shame’ was named the Best Documentary Short at the festival’s Platinum Awards section.

Directed by Morteza Atashzamzam, the film is about Rohingyas who are described by the United Nations as “the most persecuted minority in the world”.

In August 2017, a deadly crackdown by Myanmar’s military and Buddhist mobs on Rohingya Muslims forced about 800,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh, where they live in cramped camps.

“IMDb qualifier’s Independent Shorts Awards (ISA) is an international film festival, with monthly live screenings and an annual live screening and awards event in Hollywood, CA,” the event’s website reads.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the monthly live screenings and Q&As are currently postponed and “will be scheduled for the first safe opportunity, even if they have to be merged in large events”.

The monthly winners are automatically qualified to vie and be screened at ISA annual event in August.

SQ/MG