“Rona, Azim’s Mother” and “The Rib” share Kim Ji-seok Award at Busan festival

TEHRAN.(Iranart) – “Rona, Azim’s Mother”, a co-production between Afghanistan and Iran, and “The Rib”, a Chinese drama about the country’s trans community, shared the Kim Ji-seok Award at the 22nd Busan International Film Festival in South Korea on Saturday, the organizers announced.

The festival established the Kim Jiseok Award in memory of Kim Ji-seok, co-founder of the festival who passed away this year.

The Tehran-based Afghan brothers Jamshid and Navid Mahmudi are the director and producer of “Rona, Azim’s Mother”, whose story is set in Tehran.

Starring Iranian actors Mohsen Tanabandeh and Mojtaba Pirzadeh, the film is about Azim, an Afghan refugee who works as a janitor in Tehran. While helping his mother and his brother’s family plan to smuggle themselves into Germany, he feels betrayed by his brother when he abandons their mother. Nonetheless, Azim takes good care of his mother. One day, she ends up hospitalized in critical condition, and the only way to save her is through a kidney transplant. However, it is impossible for a foreigner to get a donor in Iranian society, so Azim tries to donate his kidney, but the doctor has him detained.

“The Rib”, directed by Zhang Wei, is an empathetic and elegantly crafted portrait of the struggle for rights and recognition within China’s transgender community, told through a story of parents and children, whose faith and identity are at odds.

“Savage” by Si Wei Cui from China and Korean psychodrama “Clean Up” by Kwon Man-ki also shared the New Currents award.

The organizers decided to award two female actors this year instead of one female and one male. Hee-seo Choi was awarded for her role in “Our Body” and Juyeong Lee also was honored for her role in “Maggie”.

Source: Tehran Times