TEHRAN – Mohammadreza Mohammadi, the director and producer of the movies “Nazpari” and “Roya” has won the Marcin Stachurskiego award for best young producer at the Euroshorts Festival in Poland.

The Afghan filmmaker has created the films with contributions from the Iranian Youth Cinema Society.

“Nazpari” is about Nazpari, a little Afghan girl who is forced to marry a man from Germany. Up to that point, no one has seen the man; when the day comes, Nazpari understands that the suitor is an older adult.

“Roya” shows an Afghan couple facing catastrophic problems on their way to immigrate to Europe illegally. 

The Marcin Stachurskiego award worth 1000 PLN is a grant from the Polish Institute of Film Art.

The winners of the festival, which took place in Gdansk and Warsaw, were announced last week.

The President’s Award of Gdansk City, the main prize of the festival worth 3000 PLN went to the Polish film “Dygot” (“Quiver”) directed by Joanna Rozniak.

The film is about Justyna, a young dance student whose life is full of love, movement and parties. One quiet autumn night, a violent event occurs that interrupts her carefreeness.

The Marshal of the Pomeranian Voivodeship Award best feature film was given to “Flick-a-Cig” by Elena Weiss from Germany.

The film follows Carina who fights everything and everyone that comes close to her to escape from the void and the pain of her life. Even Nikolas, a man lying amidst his belongings, seems to be as alone and lost as her until a tender bond begins to form between them.

“When the Swallows Fly Away” by Belgian director Sebastian Pins won the award for best documentary. 

In a small rural village, a young boy befriends Fernand and Andrée, a farmer couple who, at 80 years old, find themselves having trouble feeding their remaining livestock.
 
The award for best animated movie went to “Lost in a Waltz” by Li Ji-Tian from Taiwan, while the best experimental film prize was awarded to “Bride of the Desert” by Beata Pozniak from the USA.

Photo: A scene from “Roya” directed by Mohammadreza Mohammadi.

MMS/YAW