Highly acclaimed family drama ‘Melbourne’ won the main awards at the 5th Ars Independent Festival in Poland, September 27.
After viewing 6 films nominated in the Black Horse competition, the jury decided to award the title and statue of the Black Horse and cash award of $2800 to Nima Javidi, film director, Mehr News Agency reported.
The film won the awards “for its precise storytelling, creating a multidimensional story, an honest and functional staging governed by character development and for engaging the viewer in insuperable moral dilemmas without needless moralizing and false answers,” the jury said.
Javidi was awarded the Audience Horseshoe as well after counting the audience votes. With these awards, the number of international prizes won by the film reached 12.
The story is about a young couple Sara (Negar Javaherian) and Amir (‘A Separation’s’ Peyman Moaadi), who are leaving Tehran for Melbourne. In the chaos of packing and saying goodbye, they agree to a favor that will put their future at risk.
Javidi (strongly inspired by the works of renowned director Asghar Farhadi) created a suspenseful, universal drama evoking ancient tradition. At the same time, he subtly showcased the complex social problems in contemporary Iran.
“Melbourne’ opened the Critical Week 2014 at Venice and received awards at festivals in Gijon, Stockholm and Cairo among others. It was also evaluated by cinema experts for the Oscar entry.
Screened in Italy and Greece, the film will be released in Sweden and Japan soon.
The festival promotes Polish and world cinema, which is the starting point for interdisciplinary research in the area of audiovisual culture (music, video games and new media).
Asian Prize
Documentary ‘No One Cares about Jungles’ won the third prize at 2015 Handle Climate Change Film Festival (HCCFF) in China.
The film produced by Yaser Talebi and Mitra Rouhimanesh won the bronze award at this year’s edition of the event.
As Iran’s sole representative at the festival, Talebi and Rouhimanesh’s production competed with films from the US, France, Ukraine, Spain, Russia and Turkey.
“It introduces jungles and pastures in northern Iran and discusses environmental degradation” Talebi said.
HCCFF is a leading film festival in China focusing on climate change. It took place on September 19 and 20, in Shenzhen.
The festival brings together excellent films on climate change and environmental protection to Chinese audiences. It forges links between filmmakers, environmental experts, campaigners and audiences and inspires people to participate in making a better world.
