TEHRAN – Iranian movies “The Fourth Wall” and “Broken Flower” have won awards at DOK Leipzig, Germany’s major international festival for documentary and animated films.

“The Fourth Wall” directed by Mahbubeh Kalai received the Mephisto 97.6 Award for the best animated film

The film was screened in the international short film competition judged by the jury composed of Tim Puls, Moritz Schlenstedt and Julia Wegner, also from Germany.

A stuttering boy transforms an Iranian kitchen into a fantastic cosmos. The father’s body becomes a refrigerator, the mother’s belly a washing machine whose spin cycle gives birth to a screaming baby. Even birds on tiles and detergents have a surprising life of their own. 

This exuberant animation, dotted with real-life elements – fried eggs, broken plates, pieces of cheese – develops a subtle wit, ironizing ingrained family patterns.

The movie has been screened in many international festivals and has won several honors, including the Zlatko Grgic Award at the 31st Animafest Zagreb in Croatia in June.

Directed by Sarvnaz Alambeigi, “Broken Flower” won the Current Time TV Award at the DOK Co-Pro Market.

With the project, Alambeigi will portray a young woman from Afghanistan who, against the resistance of her patriarchal father, wants to become a Muay Thai athlete.

DOK Leipzig announced the winners on Saturday by awarding the Chinese documentary “Father” by Wei Deng the Golden Dove in the international competition long documentary and animated film. 

The director’s first feature film is a portrait about the generations of his father and grandfather that depicts tradition and change in Chinese society.

The Silver Dove for the best long documentary or animated film by an emerging director in the international competition went to Karol Palka for his debut film “Bucolic”. 

This Polish documentary observes a mother and her daughter in their secluded life in the countryside.

In the international competition short documentary and animated film, “Abyssal” by Alejandro Alonso about a ship scrapyard in western Cuba was awarded the Golden Dove for best short documentary.

The Golden Dove for best short animated film went to “Impossible Figures and Other Stories I” by Marta Pajek from Poland. The animation is about a complex exploration of transience, life and death.

Photo: “The Fourth Wall” directed by Mahbubeh Kalai.

MMS/YAW