TEHRAN – Short movies by Iranian directors have won awards in five categories, including best fiction short, at the Festival Corti a Ponte in Padova, Italy.

“Play” by Ali Gitinavard was selected as the best fiction short. In this film, Janan, a 6-year-old girl, performs parts from Shakespeare’s Hamlet with her mother.
 
“‘Play’ has found a way to develop an emotional film which is also able to rationally reflect and focus on the essence of a relationship and the coping with its loss,” the jury said in a statement.

“The film intercepts valuable insights on immortal questions, such as: What is it left in the aftermath of a loss, what do we do with its incomplete and fragmented memories? With his undisputable talent for engaging a young cast, the director has taken us to a place where playing is a brave and desperate act of rebellion against the inevitable. The film is ultimately, to our eyes, the story of humankind against the illusion of control,” it added.

The SENZA Award was given to “Adapt”.

Directed by Kamal Kachuian, the film is a snapshot of the lives of couples who, instead of with love, advance their relationships with sadism and masochism. They are neither able to build nor even separate. Neither of them is superior to the other, and it is as if they do not see each other and only continue to coexist.

The jury called “Adapt” “a strong reminder of the essence of cinema.”

“Without the need of significant resources, without a professional camera, it depicts the beauty of filmmaking, using technical intuitions and formal care to provide a highly emotional experience that couldn’t exist outside of the realm of cinematic forms,” the jury said.

The 16th edition of the festival took place from May 8 to 20 in Padova.

“The Last Break” by Masum Azarani won a special mention in the fiction short film competition. It follows a student who has trouble going to school because his shoes are dirty.

“A Shared Path” by Negar Naqavi received the Lentezza Jury Award. The film tells the story of two Afghan children who start a difficult journey on a bus but in the end, they recognize that they have a shared path.

The short “underlines a social theme of fundamental importance such as that of childhood stolen from all those children who find themselves living in conditions of profound hardship as they come from depressed and war-torn areas,” the jury said.

“Snoring” by Sara Abedi was given the Ex Aequo Award in Piccolo Festival International, a side section in the Festival Corti a Ponte.

In this movie, ten-year-old Sarah faces the challenge of her father’s snoring. She decides to make a documentary about this challenge and its conflicts.

The film “is distinguished by the good control of the various stages of production, from the idea to the screenplay to the shooting, up to the interpretation, especially of the child, with an adequate and functional structure and timing for the narrative characteristics of the short film,” the jury said.

The 16th edition of the Festival Corti a Ponte took place from May 8 to 20 in the Venice area.

Photo: A scene from “Play” by Ali Gitinavard.

MMS/YAW