TEHRAN – Iranian movies “Fish” and “The Recess” have received nominations in different categories of the Watersprite Student Film Festival.

“Fish” directed by Parisa Jafari is competing for best animation award at the UK’s largest international student film festival, which will take place in Cambridge from March 4 to 6.

A co-production of the Tehran University of Art and Documentary and Experimental Film Center, “Fish” is about a man who decides to allay his fear. 

The film was screened in the student film category of the 21st International Film Schools Festival (Festival Internacional de Escuelas de Cine – FIEC) in Uruguay and won a special mention. 

The jury called the movie “a short that manages to connect through the senses, whose animation uses its impurities and freedoms to generate a raw and overwhelming experience.”

Directed by Navid Nikkhah-Azad, “The Recess” has been nominated for the Wychwood Media Social Impact Award.

The movie follows Sahar, a 17-year-old student who is determined to skip high school during recess to go to the football stadium to watch a football match between Esteghlal F.C. vs. Al-Ain as part of the AFC Champions League in violation of the national ban on women entering football stadiums in Iran.

The short drama has been screened at numerous intentional events and won several awards.

It won the award for best dramatic short film at the 15th San Francisco Frozen Film Festival in July. In addition, the film’s star Mojan Kordi won the award for the best performance at the 33rd Living Skies Student Film Festival in Canada in March.

The festival is run by students at Cambridge University and Anglia Ruskin University and chaired by producer and former chair of BAFTA, Hilary Bevan Jones. 

Since 2009, Watersprite has attracted the highest-quality emerging student film talent from over 100 countries in drama, animation and documentary.

Photo: “The Recess” by Navid Nikkhah-Azad.

MMS/YAW