TEHRAN -- The Iranian documentary “Mashti Esmaeil”, which is about the daily life of an Iranian farmer, won the special jury prize at the Religion Today Film Festival.
“Mashti Esmaeil” and eight other Iranian movies were screened at the festival, which is being held from October 12 to 24 in Italy.
Directed by Mehdi Zamanpur Kiasari, “Mashti Esmaeil” is about an old blind man named Mashti Esmaeil who works in the paddies. Mashti Esmaeil does not loose his hope despite all difficulties he faces throughout his life.
The doc also won the best film award at the 8th Aljazeera International Documentary Film Festival in April 2012.
“Ali, and the Lion of God” by Mohammad-Jafar Baqerinia and “Agha Seyyed’s Girls” by Fatemeh Heidari were other documentaries that were screened at the festival.
The Iranian movies “Beloved Sky” directed by Dariush Mehrjuii, “Modest Reception” by Mani Haqiqi and “The Poor” by Mohammadreza Arab also competed in the Feature Film Section of the festival.
“Gharqa” by Zeinab Qorbani-Faryad, “Mystery of Look” by Hamid Sa’adat and “Time of Shadow Silence” by Osman Mohammadi were shown in the short film section.
The Iranian film critic and scholar Farzam Amin-Salehi was on the jury for the Religion Today Film Festival.
The Iranian movie “Gold and Copper” by Homayoun As’adian won the “In the Spirit of Faith Award” of the festival and received a special prize from the SIGNIS jury at the Religion Today Film Festival in 2011.
“Conflicts, Religions and (non)violence” is the theme of this year’s festival, which is being held in Trento and several other Italian cities.
SB/YAW
END