Iranian Films Take Half the Awards at the Beirut International Film Festival

Iranian films made waves at the International Film Festival in Beirut, having taken home half the awards, including Best Middle Eastern Feature Film, at the festival’s 14^th edition which concluded last October 9.

Iranian Kurdish-language production ‘The Last Winter’, by Salem Salavati, was awarded best feature film and best feature film scenario, while Iranian director Ali Asgari’s ‘More than Two Hours’ won the ALEPH award for Best Middle Eastern Short Film.

The silver and bronze Aleph award for Middle Eastern Short Films also went to two Iranian Kurdish-speaking movies: ‘Ants Apartment’, directed by Tofigh Amani, and ‘Butterflies’, by Adnan Zandi.

The Société Générale Award for Best Feature Film, selected according to audience votes, went to ‘The President’, another Iranian production which was inspired by the Arab Spring revolutions. Directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the movie tells the story of a dictator who runs away after a coup with his grandson and disguises as a street musician, a situation that gives him the chance to see things from a different point of view.

For more information: Visit the Beirut Film Festival’s website