TEHRAN – “Retouch” and “Not Yet”, both by Iranian filmmakers, have won the top awards at the 12th edition of the SorsiCorti Short Film Festival in Palermo, Italy.

Directed by Kaveh Mazaheri, “Retouch” was picked as best short film and Arian Vazirdaftari was crowned best director for “Not Yet”.

“Retouch” is about a young woman whose husband is trapped under a barbell during a workout but she declines to save him and, consequently, he dies.

“The short film wisely weaves, on a rigorous canvas of the staging, the threads of a solid narration, a great interpretation and direction of the actors and a clean and coherent photograph, at the service of a ruthless story that becomes the metaphor of cinema,” the festival jury said in its statement during the closing ceremony of the festival on Saturday.

“Not Yet” is about a couple from a middle class family in Tehran who want to congratulate their expatriate daughter on her birthday via Skype.

“‘Not Yet’, in a few minutes, crystallizes with a form perfectly adhering to its content as its natural and irreplaceable epidermis, a simple and universal story, without forgetting the empathy of the characters and – above all – great directorial control,” the jury said about the film.

“Solenne Triduo Dei Morti”, a documentary by Italian filmmaker Andrea Grasselli, received a special mention.

Photo: Farhad Aslani (L) and Pantea Panahiha act in a scene from “Not Yet” by Arian Vazirdaftari.

MMS/YAW