Samadi’s Short Film Wins AFI Award

TEHRAN –(Iranart)- T he 31st edition of American Film Institute (AFI) Festival in Hollywood, California, presented its Grand Jury Award for the best live action short film to the Iranian Film ‘Gaze’ on November 17. Farnoush Samadi’s second short film is about a woman who on her way back home, witnesses a crime being committed on the bus.

The film deals with her struggle over whether to reveal the crime or keep it a secret. It is co-written by Samadi and Ali Asgari, Filmnetnews.ir reported. “The filmmaker lures you in and then, like any classic thriller, hooks you until the final gasp. Underneath, the film is a subtle examination of class and gender in Iranian society”, the festival website stated the event’s jury as saying about Samadi’s entry.  The short work has Marzieh Vafamehr, Amir-Reza Ranjbaran, Pedram Ansari, Safoura Kazempour, Gholamreza Rahimi, Mehrdad Mohammadi, Kiana Asadi, Mehran Elhamifar, and Babak Karimi in the cast. It also won the Audience Award at the 36th Uppsala International Short Film Festival, Sweden, in October. Born in Iran, Samadi graduated from The Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome. She has co-written four short films with Ali Asgari including ‘The Silence’ which premiered in Cannes 2016 and won several international awards at Sydney Flickerfest 2017 and Berlin International Short Film Festival 2016. The AFI is an American film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the US. It is supported by private funding and public membership.