Mazaheri, Jalilvand Honored at Stockholm Film Fest

TEHRAN.(Iranart) – I ranian short movie ‘Retouch’ directed by Kaveh Mazaheri won the Aluminum Horse Award for the best short film at the 28th Stockholm Film Festival, November 8-19.

Guilnaz Mirmoshtaqi, one of the producers of the movie, received the award on behalf of Mazaheri. In a short video, Mazahri dedicated his award to the people of the quake-stricken areas in Kermanshah Province and hoped they would get back  to their normal lives soon.

The 7.3-magnitude earthquake that jolted Kermanshah in western Iran and the regions bordering Iraq on November 12 killed at least 437 people, injured 9400 others and left thousands homeless.

‘Retouch’ had its world premiere at the 35th Fajr Film Festival in Iran where it won the Crystal Simorgh for Best Short Film. Its international premiere was at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York in April.

Produced by the Iranian Young Cinema Society, the film is a surprising portrait of a woman, Maryam, who faces an unexpected choice one morning: the choice between life and death, freedom and captivity, the future and the past.

Born in Tehran, Mazaheri, 36, made his debut as director with the short film ‘Tweezers’ in 2007 and since then has made documentaries and short fiction films.

 Best Screenplay Award

Another Iranian feature film ‘No Date, No Signature’ directed by Vahid Jalilvand won the Best Screenplay Award at the festival.

It tells the story of a respected forensic pathologist getting involved in a car accident, where an 8-year-old boy is injured. The next morning, the boy’s body is brought for an autopsy in the hospital where the pathologist works and he believes that he is responsible for the child’s death.

The film is an example of the cinema of moral dilemmas, infused with a meticulous character study. It has won several awards at festivals in Iran and Italy among others.

The Stockholm festival is known as an event to support young filmmakers across the world. In its 28th edition, 15 films from China, France, Cyprus, Denmark, Lebanon, Palestine, Chile, Croatia, Slovakia, the US, Australia, Belgium, Japan, South Korea, Poland and Iran competed.