TEHRAN – Reza Mirkarimi, the director of the acclaimed Iranian dramas “Castle of Dreams” and “A Cube of Sugar”, has been selected as the president of the Kim Jiseok Award Jury at the 26th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), the organizers announced on Tuesday.

His latest film “Castle of Dreams” won three main honors of the 22nd Shanghai International Film Festival, including the Golden Goblet Award for the best film.

The film also brought Mirkarimi the best director award and Hamed Behdad the award for best actor at the Chinese festival.

The 2011 Busan also screened his “A Cube of Sugar” in A Window on Asian Cinema. 

He has joined various international film festivals as a jury member, serving as jury president at the Moscow International Film Festival 2017.

Kazakh film scholar Gulnara Abikeyeva, who is also the author of several books about cinema, and Korean critic Kim Haery, a founding member of the weekly film magazine CINE21, are other the member of the Kim Jiseok Award Jury.

The Kim Jiseok Award Jury is looking for promising directors to lead the future of Asian cinema. The award was established in memory of Kim Jiseok, the deputy director and executive programmer of the Busan festival who died of a heart attack in May 2017. This prize worth $10,000 is awarded to two films.

The 26th edition of the Busan International Film Festival will take place in the South Korean city of Busan from October 6 to 15.

As an Asian prestigious film event, the Busan festival is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Metropolitan City of Busan, and the Korean Film Council.

Iranian directors have been frequent visitors to the Busan festival. However, the Busan 2021 has not announced the official lineup as yet.   

Iranian films “Drowning in Holy Water” directed by Navid Mahmudi, and “The Slaughterhouse” by Abbas Amini won the Kim Jiseok Award at the 25th Busan International Film Festival.

In addition, director Mina Keshavarz’s “The Art of Living in Danger”, a co-production between Iran and Germany, received the BIFF Mecenat Award.

“Rona, Azim’s Mother”, a co-production between Afghanistan and Iran directed by Jamshid Mahmudi, also won the Kim Jiseok Award in 2018. 

Photo: Director Reza Mirkarimi poses with the Golden George awards for his film “Daughter” at the closing of the 38th Moscow International Film Festival on June 30, 2016. (TASS/Vyacheslav Prokofyev)

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