'Yellow' Wins 2 Awards at Shanghai Film Festival

The Iranian film ‘Yellow’ directed by Mostafa Taqizadeh has won two awards at the 20th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF), June 17-26.

Iran’s sole entry in the event, it received the festival's Jury Grand Prix award as well as the best actress award for Sareh Bayat, Cinematicket.org reported.

According to the festival website, the movie "grips you with its compelling study of close friends struggling to pay for a lifesaving liver transplant. Restrained, naturalistic cinematography and subtle editing keep our attention squarely on outstanding actor performances oozing with desperation, as the director explores ideas of love, loyalty and friendship as they crumble under ever more intense pressure."

The jury statement on the best actress award also said, "Her calm, nuanced and multilayered performance is full of emotions, and successfully portrays a woman's strength and conviction under accidents and impacts."

Bayat, 37, is a well-known actress. She won the Silver Bear Award for best actress in Asghar Farhadi's 2011 film ‘A Separation’ at the 61st Berlin Film Festival.

Palme d'Or-winning Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu presided over the jury that selected the competition winners at the leading Chinese cinema event.

This is Taqizadeh’s first feature film after making several short movies. It was premiered at the 35th Fajr Film Festival in February and is slated for local screening in summer. The drama tells the story of emotional conflicts of five friends triggered by an accident, featuring human nature and social dark side directly.

The 93-minute film features Bahram Radan, Sareh Bayat, Mehrdad Sedighian, Bahareh Kianafshar, Shahram Haghighatdoust, Amir-Ali Nabavian and Ali Salehi among others.

Founded in 1993, the SIFF is the only competitive film festival in China approved by the International Federation of Film Producers Association. It focuses on awards, markets, forums and film exhibitions so as to build an international platform and promote the development of the Chinese film industry.

Given China’s economic power and the rise of its international status in recent years, films from that country have attracted more attention from around the world, and SIFF, held in June annually, has become a great event for filmmakers worldwide. Its universal appeal, international influence, and effect on the world’s multicultural film culture and development of the film industry have been praised by people in and outside the industry.