SCHLiNGEL Film Festival awards Majidi’s ‘Sun Children’

Acclaimed Iranian drama ‘Sun Children’ has succeeded to receive the main award of the 26th SCHLiNGEL International Film Festival for Children and Young Audiences in Germany.

Majid Majidi’s ‘Sun Children’, which was screened at the Junior Film category, grabbed the Award of the City of Chemnitz.   

The jury praised ‘Sun Children’ in a statement published on Tuesday, saying “The film manages to make us realize clearly that all children are created equal and deserve education and encouragement. That all children should have a chance for education and perspectives in their lives and the right to be protected and cared for.”

“We could not help but award this film by director Majid Majidi. The incredible depth of the narrative, the complexity of the story, the impressive images, and the great performance especially by the young actor Ruhollah Zamani convinced us,” they noted.

Co-written by Javidi and Majidi, ‘Sun Children’ tells the story of a bunch of kids who work quite hard to financially support their needy families while they sometimes commit petty crimes to make easy money.

Everything changes, however, when one of them is entrusted to find a hidden treasure underground, but he must first enroll at the Sun (Khorshid) School, a charitable institution that tries to educate street kids and children suffering child labor.

‘Sun Children’ is the recipient of the Crystal Simorgh for Best Film at the 38th Fajr Film Festival in Tehran in February 2020.

Ali Nasiriyan, Javad Ezzati, and Tannaz Tabatabaee have starred in the film.

‘Sun Children’ was selected to represent Iran in the best foreign-language film category of the 93rd Academy Awards in 2021.

Previously, the flick was screened at the 77th Venice Film Festival in Italy, where it brought the Marcello Mastroianni Award to its young actor Zamani.

The 61st Zlin Film Festival in the Czech Republic has recently bestowed the Golden Slipper for best feature film award on ‘Sun Children’.

Iranian films ‘Loculus’, ‘Wolf Cubs of the Apple Valley’, and ‘Playful’ also participated in different categories of the SCHLiNGEL festival.

The 2021 SCHLiNGEL Int’l Film Festival for Children and Young wrapped up on October 16.

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Critics name ‘Sun Children’ among top 20 films of int’l fests

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