Feature film ‘Oblivion Season’ by Abbas Rafei won four awards at the Third Annual Rahway International Film Festival (RIFF), held in New Jersey August 28-30.
This year, six feature and 22 short films from 12 countries took part in the competition section and Rafei’s film bagged awards for best feature film, best narrative, best screenplay, and best actress in a feature film for Sareh Bayat.
The 94-minute drama tells the story of an Iranian woman who wants to start a new life but leaving the shadow of her dark past is not easy, Mehr News Agency reported.
The movie has been screened in Hudson Festival in New York, Brasov International Film Festival in Romania and the Colombian International Film Festival. It is also an entry at the 39th Montreal World Film Festival, underway till September 7 in Canada.
In the 2014 production, Bayat, Amin Zendegani and Shahin Taslimi play the lead roles. The film has not yet been released locally.
Bayat is a well-known figure on the international scene. Her performance as the caretaker in Asghar Farhadi’s internationally acclaimed film, ‘A Separation’ (2011), brought her Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 61st Berlin Film Festival and Best Actress in Palm Springs International Film Festival, 2011.
She also played the lead role in Aida Panahandeh’s debut feature ‘Nahid’ that won ‘Un Certain Regard’ award at Cannes Film festival in May.
Her last movie ‘Muhammad’ by Majid Majidi in which she plays Halimeh, foster-mother of the prophet of Islam, is currently on screen in Iran.
RIFF aims to provide the world’s independent filmmakers with an opportunity to promote hope, equality, empathy and awareness through their films; following each screening, a seminar was held on the themes by film experts, directors and critics.
