TEHRAN – Iranian drama “180º Rule” has won the awards for best feature film and best ensemble cast at the Beirut International Women’s Film Festival.

Sahar Dowlatshahi, Pejman Jamshidi, Hassan Purshirzi, Azita Hajian, Amirreza Ranjbaran, Sadaf Asgari, Mohammad Heidari and Ailin Jahed are the main members of the cast.  

Directed by Farnush Samadi, “180º Rule” tells the story of Sara, a school teacher whom her students love and who is married to Hamed. As her family gets ready to attend a wedding in northern Iran, an unforeseen obligation falls on Hamed and derails their plans. When Sara’s husband suddenly forbids her to attend the event without him, she makes a decision that sets her on the painful path of atonement.

Winners of the Lebanese festival, which was launched in 2017 to highlight the role of women as leaders in their societies, were announced last Monday.

“The Present” by Palestinian filmmaker Farah Nabulsi was selected as best short fiction movie.

In this film, on his wedding anniversary, Yusef and his young daughter set out in the West Bank to buy his wife a gift. Between soldiers, segregated roads and checkpoints, how easy would it be to go shopping?

Suzannah Mirghani from Sudan was picked as best director for her “Al-Sit” in the short competition.

In a cotton-farming village in Sudan, 15-year-old Nafisa has a crush on Babiker, but her parents have arranged her marriage to a young Sudanese businessman living abroad and her matriarchal grandmother Al-Sit has her own plans.

“Ain’t No Time for Women” by Canadian director Sarra El Abed was name best short documentary.

The hairdressing salon Saida is a space where people speak openly, laugh and argue. The subject rarely is hair. In the run-up to the presidential elections in Tunisia the shop turns into a political arena where the women – young or old, conservative or with a modern outlook – indulge in discussions about the pros and cons of the candidates. Their clever and witty statements reflect a young democracy with all its rifts and fault lines.

“The Wedding Cake” by Monica Mazzitelli won the award for best animated film.

The co-production between Sweden and Italy is about a young woman who is forced to become a prostitute in order to settle her ex-husband’s debts. Her destiny is narrated through Playmobil figurines and a wedding cake that disappears along with the woman’s illusions. A true story about a very common problem in Eastern Europe.

The award for best feature documentary went to “A Thousand Girls Like Me” by Afghan filmmaker Sahra Mani.

It is an awe-inspiring vérité documentary that tells the story of a young Afghan woman’s brave fight to seek justice and protect her children after experiencing years of abuse at the hands of her father.

Khatera Golzad’s father physically and sexually abused her for more than thirteen years, and after several aborted pregnancies, she gave birth to a daughter and a son. Despite her many attempts to file charges, neither the Afghan police nor the legal system helped her. In 2014, she appeared on national television to publicly accuse her father, finally succeeding in bringing her case to court despite threats from male relatives and judges who labeled her a liar.

Photo: Director Farnush Samadi (3rd R) and cast members pose in an undated photo.
 
MMS/YAW