Iran’s globetrotting ‘The Recess’ in the running at Uruguay festival

Iranian 12-minute flick ‘The Recess’ is currently competing for the top prize at the 11th Festival Nacional de Cine Estudiantil (FENACIES) in Uruguay’s capital Montevideo.

Written, produced and directed by Navid Nikkhah-Azad, ‘The Recess’, which has been translated into ‘El Recreo’ in the Spanish language, is competing at the competition section of the FENACIES to mark its 37th international screening.

‘The Recess’ is about a 17-year-old school-girl who runs away from school to watch the football match of her beloved club.

Sahar, along with three of her friends, is planning to exit the school during the break in order to watch the match between Esteghlal FC and Al Ain FC at Azadi Sports Complex.

Mozhan Kordi, Reyhaneh Naieean, Niloufar Shokouhinia, and Ghazal Khalili are on the cast list.

According to the festival’s secretariat, 429 works were submitted for participation in the Competition Section of the festival. A total of 192 works, representing 16 countries, from three continents, were selected to participate in this section. 

‘The Recess’ is the recipient of numerous awards from previous participations, including the Best Performance Award for Kordi at the Living Skies Student Film Festival in Canada in March, and the Best Short Film Award at the Oxford Film Festival (OxFilm) in Mississippi, the US, also held in March.

The short drama received the award for best short film at the 24th Johns Hopkins Film Festival, the 12th IndieFEST Film Awards, as well as the 15th San Francisco Frozen Film Festival, all held in the US.

Founded in 2011 with the aim of creating a cinema festival specifically for the youth, the FENACIES was declared in 2015 by UNESCO as its educational and cultural interest.

The 11th edition of the event, being held in person, will wrap up on September 12, 2021.

MM/FM