A total of 10 films from Iran won in different sections of the 1st edition of International Open Film Festival (IOFF) in Bangladesh (June 10-14).
The festival has the largest number of international juries. A total of 338 international jury members from various parts of the world selected the best films among approximately 4,000 submissions from 105 countries.
Iranian short film 'Valad' directed by Amir Abbas Rabiee won the Special Jury Prize at 'Film on Women' section and in the Feature Film Section, 'Shoes' by Morteza Asemani won the Award of Recognition, Mehr News Agency reported.
In the 'Film on Religion' category, 'Oblivion Season' by Abbas Rafei won the Best Award and 'Unknown' by Salah Salehi won the Special Mention Award.
'Till the Wet Pulse of Morning' by Farid Mirkhani won the Best Award of the 'Short Documentary Film' category. The Award of Recognition for the Experimental Film section was given to 'The Black Briefcase' by Hossein Zeynali.
In the Short Film Student category, the best film award went to 'Neigh' by Hosein Jalilvand and Kian Darjazi. The Special Mention Award in the same category was given to 'It Hit Upon the Roof' by Teymour Qaderi. Also the short film by Amin Maher won the Award of Recognition in this category.
Two animated movies were also awarded in the 'Animation Film' category. 'Like a Butterfly' by Mohammad Afsharnejad and 'Dad's Fragile Doll' by Ali Zare Ghanatnowi won the Jury Award and Special Mention Award respectively.
The IOFF is an independent film festival which explores films with no borders.
Australian Prize
'Voice of Silence' written and directed by Mohammad Hadi Naeiji was awarded the Best Feature award in the low budget category (Budget under $250,000) of the 2nd Phoenix Film Festival Melbourne (PFFM), Australia.
The film depicts the life of Mir-Hashem, a young cleric whose wife has left him because of his angry creditors and his fertility problems. One of the creditors persuades Mir-Hashem "to go for propagation and get the money from people".
The Australian festival (June 15-21) was focused on films of artistic merit and scope, and is geared to the truly independent filmmakers, actors, and script writers.
Last year, 'Oblivion Season' by Abbas Rafei won the Best Human Rights award at the festival.
