TEHRAN – The crew of the acclaimed short film “Retouch” paid tribute to their late fellow Iranian, math genius Maryam Mirzakhani, by dedicating an award the movie won at a Portuguese event on Sunday to her family.

Directed by Kaveh Mazaheri, the film received the audience award at the closing ceremony of the Curtas Vila do Conde International Film Festival held in Vila do Conde, the publicist of the film announced on Monday.

Adeleh Charaghi, who collaborated on the film as a set and costume designer, attended the ceremony, presenting the award on behalf her colleagues to the mathematician who died of breast cancer on Saturday.          

“Unfortunately, we were informed yesterday that our world has lost Maryam Mirzakhani, one of the great math geniuses,” the crew wrote in a statement.

“In a tribute to Mirzakhani, our group has decided to dedicate the award to her family,” the statement added.

“Retouch” has been screened at numerous international events over the past year, winning awards in some of them, including the 16th Tribeca Film Festival in New York City and the 23rd Palm Springs International ShortFest.

The passing of Mirzakhani, who was known as the queen of mathematics, came as a shock to officials and her friends.

President Hassan Rouhani posted a recent picture of Mirzakhani on Instagram and wrote, “The grievous passing of Maryam Mirzakhani, the eminent Iranian and world-renowned mathematician, is very much heartrending.”

Photo: This file photo shows Kaveh Mazaheri (R) directing his colleagues during a scene from “Retouch”. 

MMS/YAW