TEHRAN – The award-winning Iranian drama “Botox” has scored another victory by garnering the best feature award at the Shenzhen International Film Festival in China.

A co-production between Iran and Germany, the film is about sisters Akram and Azar. Both lie about their brother’s disappearance, telling everyone he fled to Germany. Day after day, the lie becomes bigger and more unmanageable, leading everyone to a dark and mysterious destiny.

Directed by Kaveh Mazaheri, “Botox” has been screened at several international film festivals and won awards in some of them.

The film brought Susan Parvar the award for best actress at the 8th Torino Underground Cinefest in Italy in September.

In November 2020, the film was named the best feature at the 38th Torino Film Festival in Italy. The film co-written by Mazaheri and Sepinud Najian also won the award for best screenplay at the event.

The movie also brought Mazaheri the first-film director award at the 38th Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran in June.

The Shenzhen International Film Festival announced the winners on Saturday.

The award for most promising director was given to Patricia McCormack from the UK for her short drama “Myrtle”.

Myrtle is preparing her ingredients, she surely knows what she's doing, she has, after all, been practicing. But something's not quite right, and as her composure unravels, we learn that 21 grams are all that separates life from death.

“Make-Believers”, written and directed by Kenjo McCurtain from Japan, was selected as best drama.

The film is about Masa, who hires a rental actress and aspiring dancer, Kanako, to pose as his fiancée to impress his estranged, ailing father. But as his father’s death delays, Masa has to navigate the spiraling web of lies and to learn to follow his heart.

The Mexican film “There Are No Slums for Women” written by Donald Whittier won the best screenplay award.

Life is difficult for Ana. Desperate for resources, and struggling with nascent adulthood in Mexico, she doesn’t know where to turn. When she finds a bag of money, Ana believes her dreams have been answered. But, as she’ll find out, life is rarely so simple, with possible severe repercussions for her family. The owners of the money want it back, and have sent a merciless “fixer” named Mataoh to clean up the mess, including setting the incompetent toughs straight who lost the bag in the first place. Ana’s only hope for her survival is Tia Naomi. 

“Blue Moon” by Lithuanian director Vytautas Kazlauskas was picked as best short. It tells the story of an allegorical whale’s journey through space, reliving his life, which, surprisingly, is similar to that of our own.

Photo: Susan Parvar acts in a scene from “Botox”.

MMS/YAW