“No Date” nabs awards at Bratislava; actor, director remember Kermanshah quake victims

TEHRAN –(Iranart)- The award-winning Iranian drama “No Date, No Signature” has won two awards at the 19th Bratislava International Film Festival in Slovakia while messages from director Vahid Jalilvand and the film’s star Navid Mohammadzadeh implored the audience to hold a moment of silence in memory of the victims of the recent earthquake in the western Iranian region of Kermanshah.

The film was presented with the FIPRESCI Jury Award and Mohammadzadeh was selected as best actor during the award ceremony of the festival at Kino Lumiere on Tuesday evening, the Persian service of IRNA reported on Wednesday.

Jalilvand and Mohammadzadeh could not attend the ceremony and Iranian deputy ambassador Hamidreza Madad received the awards on behalf of them.

However, Jalilvand and Mohammadzadeh expressed their thanks to the organizers in videos screened at the ceremony.

“Sorry, if I don’t feel so very happy, because I was informed hours ago that many of my compatriots in western Iran were killed in a devastating earthquake,” Jalilvand said in the video.

“I don’t know if I should be happy or sad at this time as many people in Kermanshah and Ilam, my homeland, have been killed in the earthquake,” Mohammadzadeh said and dedicated his award to the victims of the natural disaster, which claimed lives of over 470 people.

“Men Don’t Cry” by Alen Drljevic from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Croatia and Germany was picked as best fiction film while Soleen Yusef from Iraq was named best director for his film “House without Roof”.

The award for best actress went to Laetitia Dosch from France for her role in “Montparnasse Bienvenüe” by Léonor Serraille.