TEHRAN – Iranian drama “The Badger” has scored another success by winning awards in the best film and best screenplay categories at the Global Nonviolent Film Festival in Hollywood, California.
One of the five awards presented to the film produced by Sina Saeidian was in the best feature film category.
The other winners were “Tommy Machismo” by producer Mustujab Kirmani from the U.S.; “Tale of Zozo”, a Nigeria-Uganda co-production produced by Kingsley Ukaegbu; “Away from Shore, a co-production between Bulgaria and Ukraine produced by Kostadin Bonev; and “Shellfish” produced by James Hopewell from the U.S.
Directed and written by Kazem Mollai, “The Badger” also received one of the two awards presented in the best screenplay section.
The movie is about Sudeh, a 40-year-old woman who faces a strange incident right before her second marriage. Sudeh and her son Matiar live in an old apartment.
One day, she hires a pest control company to solve the termite problems in the apartment. While the pest control company is working, Matiar is recording the procedures, as this is his hobby. The next day, Matiar gets kidnapped after school, and the kidnapper asks Sudeh to pay 10 Bitcoins for her son. Tremendous pressure is put on Sudeh, but the truth hidden beneath will surprise everyone.
“Darking Way” written by Zsolt Pozsgai from Hungary was another winner in the section.
The festival, which is the most important international event for nonviolent films, announced the winner last week.
The jury of the festival included film maestro Shamil Aliyev from Azerbaijan, animation director Joe Chang from Canada-China, producer Elio Dell’Unto from Canada, cinematographer and documentary producer Flynn Donovan from the U.S. and film critic Hamed Soleimanzadeh from Iran.
In the best director category, Hunter Hopewell for “Shellfish” from the U.S., Kostadin Bonev for “Away from Shore”, Sohrab Khandelwal for “Que Sera Sera” from India and Zsolt Pozsgai for “Darking Way” were honored.
The award for best actor went to Penko Gospodinov for his role in “Away from Shore, while the award for best actress was given to Pap Katalin in “Darking Way”.
Winners in the best documentary, best short film and several other categories were also awarded.
Photo: Vishka Asayesh acts in a scene from the Iranian drama “The Badger”.
MMS/YAW