TEHRAN – Iranian director Marzieh Riahi’s movie “Driving Lessons” has won the award for best short drama at the 13th edition of the I Will Tell International Film Festival in London, the organizers have announced.

The film tells the story of Bahareh, a young girl who, according to Iranian law, must have a man from among her relatives accompany her on driving lessons so she and her male instructor won’t be alone.

“A Modern Genocide” by Alex Blum, Noman Robin and Bart Gavigan from England received the award for best short film, while “Neighbors” by Tomislav Zaja from Croatia was named the best feature documentary. 

The I Will Tell International Film Festival was held from August 30 to September 9. 

“Driving Lessons” won the Golden Apricot for best short film at the 16th Golden Apricot International Film Festival in Yerevan, Armenia, in July. It also received the best non-Irish short award at the Dublin Feminist Film Festival in Ireland in August.

Photo: A scene from Iranian filmmaker Marzieh Riahi’s short film “Driving Lessons”.

ABU/MMS/YAW