TEHRAN – Iranian movies “Sami” and “Parizad” have won two awards at the 16th Kazan International Muslim Film Festival in Russia.

Iran’s first Arabic-language drama “Sami” written and directed by Habib Bavi Sajed received the best screenplay award in the feature films competition of the festival, the organizers announced on Friday.

The story of the film is set in Khuzestan Province where a large portion of the population speaks Arabic. The film shows a man’s love for his wife who died twenty years ago, however, the man still cannot accept the fact.

“Parizad” by Mehdi Imani Shahmiri was named best short documentary.

It is about Aunt Keshvar, a lonely rural woman who weaves an unknown and nearly forgotten fabric named “Geleej”. She shares information about the role of Geleej in the daily life of the villagers and legends about her homeland.

Saeid Nejati, the Iranian director of the acclaimed short “It Rains Slowly”, was a member of the jury chaired by Azerbaijani filmmaker Elchin Musaoglu.

“18 Kilohertz” by Kazakh director Farkhat Sharipov won the Grand Prix. The film is about the realities which faced teenagers in Kazakhstan in the late 90s, at the time of the drug boom in Almaty.

Gulnara lost her ring and suspects that her teenage son Sanjar stole it. Meanwhile, Sanjar is passionate about exploring life with his best friend is Jaga. The boys spend all their time together dreaming about freedom and discovering all the prohibited places with “no entry” signs.

The film also won Alexander Plotnikov the award for best cinematographer.

Ferit Karahan from Turkey was picked as best director for his drama “Brother’s Keeper”, which brought Samet Yildiz the award for best actor.

Svetlana Yancheva was named best actress for her role in the Bulgarian drama “Fear” directed by Ivaylo Hristov. The film also won the Press Jury Prize.

“Two Options”, a co-production between France and Spain directed by Gon Caride was selected as best short.

“Among the Seven Islands” by Hurgaliev Almaz from Tatarstan won the award for best documentary feature.

Photo: A scene from Iran’s first Arabic language film “Sami” by Habib Bavi Sajed. 

MMS/YAW