TEHRAN -- The Iranian films “Slowly” and “Offside” won prizes at the 44th Gijon International Film Festival, which was held in the northwestern Spanish city from November 23 to December 1.

Directed by Maziar Miri, “Slowly” shared the Best Director Award with Mahamat Saleh Haroun, who directed “Daratt”, a joint production of France, Chad, Belgium, and Austria.

“Slowly” is about a train station worker named Mahmud who receives a telephone call informing him that his wife Pari has left him. All the evidence indicates that she has been disloyal to him, but Mahmud tries to discover the truth himself.

In addition, Shima Mobarak-Shahi, Shayesteh Irani, Aida Sadeqi, Golnaz Farmani, and Mahnaz Zabihi, the amateur actresses of Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi’s “Offside”, collectively received the Best Actress Award of the festival.

“Offside”, which is about several Iranian girls who disguise themselves as boys to enter Tehran’s Azadi Stadium to watch the 2006 World Cup Asian zone qualifier between Iran and Bahrain, also won the festival’s Young Jury Prize for Best Feature Film.