TEHRAN – Iranian cinema was the big winner at the 6th Herat International Women’s Film Festival (HIWFF) as movies from the country garnered awards in six categories of the Afghan event on Thursday.

The Golden Earring Statue for Best Feature Narrative in the World Cinema competition went to “Just 6.5” by Saeid Rustai.

Afshin Hashemi’s “Goodbye Shirazi Girl” also received a certificate of appreciation for its different view of women.

In this category, Sara Bahrami, the star of the Iranian drama “Axing” directed by Behruz Shoeibi, shared the award for best actress with Ruby Ruiz for “Iska” from the Philippines.

“The Visit” by Azadeh Mousavi won the Bronze Earring Statue for Best Short Narrative, while the Bronze Earring Statue for Best Animation went to “Tangle” by Maliheh Gholamzadeh.

“Khatemeh” co-directed by Hadi Zarei and Mehdi Zarei was selected as best feature documentary.

The documentary is about a 14-year-old Afghan girl named Khatemeh living in Iran with her family. She is forced to marry the husband of her late sister who died by suicide, but after a while, she escapes from home to save her life from her husband and her brother’s torture and takes refuge in the Welfare Organization of Shiraz.

The closing ceremony of the most prestigious women’s film festival in the region was held on Thursday evening at Darul Aman Palace in Kabul.

Minister of Information and Culture Tahir Zahir and Iranian filmmaker Narges Abyar, who was a jury member for the International Narrative Feature Films Competition, were among the attendees of the ceremony.

Afghan filmmaker Sahra Karimi’s drama “Hava, Maryam, Ayesha” won the Golden Earring Statue for Best Feature Narrative in the Women’s Cinema.

The Jury Special Mention for Best Documentary Feature was awarded to “Midnight Traveler”, a co-production between Afghanistan and the USA by Hassan Fazili.

In addition, “Five Minutes to Sea” by Armenian filmmaker Natalia Mirzoyan received the Jury Special Mention for Best Animation.

Greek filmmaker Anna Antonopoulou’s “Cleoniki” was named best short documentary.

A lineup of 73 films from different countries, including India, Iran, France, Britain, Greece, Italy, the USA, Egypt, Russia, Croatia, Germany, Spain, Belgium and Poland, were screened during the four-day event.

Photo: Iranian filmmakers Afshin Hashemi (2nd L) and Narges Abyar (2nd R) pose with Afghan fans for a selfie during the closing ceremony of the 6th Herat International Women’s Film Festival at the Darul Aman Palace in Kabul on November 19, 2020. (HIWFF)

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