The Iranian feature documentary ‘Starless Dreams’, directed by Mehrdad Oskouei, won two awards at the 19th Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, in North Carolina, the US.
In the closing ceremony on Sunday (April 10), the documentary received the top prize of the event, the Reva and David Logan Grand Jury Award as well as the Full Frame Inspiration Award, ISNA reported.
The latter is presented to a film that best exemplifies the value and relevance of world religions and spirituality.
Oskouei, who could not attend the award ceremony, sent a message to the event in which he said, “My responsibility as a filmmaker to encourage positive and effective social change is to increase public awareness. I am convinced that a documentary filmmaker should at times show images of human suffering with the hope of putting an end to it. All my films have been made in this firm belief.”
The story deals with a group of young women in an Iranian juvenile detention center who reflect on the crimes they have committed and the harsh circumstances that shaped them.
The movie has already won the Amnesty International Film Prize in the Generation 14plus section of the 66th Berlinale, in February. Oskouei also received the True Vision Award at the 13th True/False Film Festival in Missouri, the US in March.
Not yet screened in Iran, the film will be distributed in the US and Canada by the New York-based film distributor Cinema Guild. The international distribution is done by The French Company Dreamlab.
Established in 1998, Full Frame is one of America’s premier documentary film festivals and a qualifying event for consideration for nominations for both the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject and The Producers Guild of America Awards.
