Festival of Nations picks Iranian ‘Parizad’ as best doc

Iranian title ‘Parizad’ has shined at the Festival of Nations, an international short film festival in Austria.

Produced and directed by Mehdi Imani-Shahmiri, the Iranian title was picked as best documentary at the 48th edition of the Austrian event.

‘Parizad’ has a narrative look towards one of the handicrafts of the women in Chashm Village of Semnan Province.

Golich is a type of Kilim-a type hand-woven floor covering- that is only made in Chashm. The mothers and grandmothers of the village tell some beautiful tales and stories about the art.

The film is about Aunt Keshvar, a lonely rural woman who weaves Golich. She shares information about the role of Golich in the daily life of the villagers and legends about her homeland.

Currently on screen at the Mammoth Lakes Film Festival in the US, ‘Parizad’ recently received the award for best short documentary at the Kazan International Muslim Film Festival in Russia.

The grand prize the Festival of Nations went to ‘The Handyman’ by Nicholas Clifford from Australia.

‘Made in China’, a film on a Chinese pandemic and lockdown (!) by Ale Damiani from Uruguay won the award for best comedy.

The award for best animation went to ‘Dans la Nature’ made by Marcel Barelli from Switzerland and the award for best experimental film was presented to ‘Human Walkers in Motion’ directed by Ethann Neon from Belgium.

‘Nah’ from Austria brought the award for best director to Benjamin Pieber and ‘Sunday Dinner’ by Kevin Mead brought the award for best screenplay to Don Fanelli.

The award for best actress went to Katharina Dietl for her role in ‘Isolation Art – Recreating Masterpieces’ directed by herself the award for best actor was given to Vinico Marchioni for his role in ‘Il Gioco’ by Alessandro Haber.

The Festival of Nations is the most important film festival in Austria with more than 700 entries from 55 countries every year.

The 48th edition of the event was held in Lenzing, Upper Austria, on September 9-14.

MG/MG