TEHRAN – Iranian short drama “The Runner” has won the prize for best screenplay at the Global University Film Awards (GUFA) in Hong Kong.

Co-written by Payam Hosseini and Ako Zand Karimi, the film is also known as “Russian Vodka”. Hosseini is also the director of the film.

Set in the slums of a Kurdish city in Iran, the film is about Hakim, a teenager who is forced by his father to participate in races linked to a round of illegal betting. One night, before a race, Hakim discovers that the rules of the game have changed: he now has to run to save his life.

The awards ceremony was held on Monday as the prize for best Cine-VFX went to the short “Little Gestures” by Daniel Brand-Sinyinza, Nickoel Izharudin and Richard O’Hanlon from the UK.

In this film, when an elderly artist struggles with his work, a concerned friend decides to help.

“Good German Work” was selected as best narrative. The short directed by German filmmaker Jannis Alexander Kiefer follows two craftspeople, Uli and Didi, who are working on a swastika in their workshop. Somewhere between a rural idyll and the monotony of country life, they wonder about the strange newcomers to their village.

Kim Deok-geun from Korea was named best director for “To Each Your Sarah”.

The gold award was given to “$75,000” by Moise Togo from France. It also was picked as best experimental film.

People with albinism often face discrimination and violence, especially in Africa. In this experimental documentary, the soundtrack providing the harrowing narratives of those affected is set to calm animation, some illustrative and some freely associative.

“Pupus” by Miriam Cossu and Sparagano Ferraye from Italy won the award for best documentary.

It is an observational documentary investigating the father-son relationship during the process of transmission of the art. The children of the Mancuso family, famous for its long history of local puppet theater, work toward mastering their family trade.

“Graziano and the Giraffe” by Italian directors Fabio Orlando and Tommaso Zerbi was named best animated film. A man hungry for sausages buys a microwave oven that will drag him into the wild.

Being envisioned as the “University Oscars”, GUFA is well-recognized as the most-celebrated international student event ever undertaken in Hong Kong.

Photo: “The Runner” by Payam Hosseini.

MMS/YAW