The Iranian film ‘Maat’ (literally opaque) directed and produced by Saba Kazemi won the Special Abbas Kiarostami Award at the 40th International Sao Paulo Film Festival which wrapped up November 2 in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo.
After the demise of the Iranian film auteur Abbas Kiarostami in July, many local and international film events have dedicated special programs in his honor. Locally, there are also new prizes in his name. However, this is the first time on the international scene that a prize under Kiarostami’s name was presented, and interestingly the winner was from Iran too.
Competing in the New Directors Competition section, ‘Maat’ which had its world debut at the event, won the special jury prize, IRNA reported.
As the jury said, the prize is awarded to films that narrate classic stories in a new experimental form.
Ethical Dilemma
The story is about a group of families from different towns of Iran who decide to migrate to Tehran to solve their financial problems. They spend all their savings on buying a house, but they find out the flat has been sold to other people as well. They are looking for a way out of the problem when they find a huge sum of money in the flat. Now they face the ethical dilemma of taking the money or telling the truth to the police.
The cast includes Zhaleh Balmeh, Aban Askari, Aqil Bahrami, Meysam Karimpur, Minoo Maleki and Nima Kazemi.
The movie was presented by Iran Arthouse Film which owns the right for the international sale of the work.
‘Maat’ will start screening in Iran on November 16.
For two weeks (October 20-November 2), a total of 322 titles were screened in 35 halls around Sao Paulo. The selection provided an overview of the world contemporary cinema productions.
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