Hungarian Awards for Oskouie’s ‘Starless Dreams’

TEHRAN.(Iranart) – I ranian film ‘Starless Dreams’ directed by Mehrdad Oskouie won two awards at the Budapest International Documentary Festival, January 23-28.

The film was screened in the competition section and vied with more than 40 other films from Denmark, Italy, Poland, Germany, Spain, France, Croatia and Mexico among others. Picked as the best documentary, it received one award from the student jury and another from a panel of senior jury, ISNA reported.

The story of the documentary deals with a group of young under 18 girls in an Iranian juvenile detention center who reflect on the crimes they have committed and the harsh circumstances that shaped them.

‘Starless Dreams’ has won several awards locally and internationally including best director award at Iran’s Cinema Verite and Fajr Film Festival; best documentary awards at the 10th annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Australia, 60th BFI London Film Festival and 25th Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival in Arkansas; the Amnesty International Film Prize at the 66th Berlinale and the True Vision Award at the 13th True/False Film Festival in Missouri.

Not yet screened in Iran, the film has been distributed in the US and Canada by the New York-based film distributor Cinema Guild. The international distribution is done by The French Company Dreamlab.

American news and culture paper The Village Voice, has recently introduced a list of the best 25 feature films of 2017 on its website, where ‘Starless Dreams’ ranks 7th.

Billed as the biggest Hungarian film event, Budapest International Documentary Festival screens films that depict human destiny, problems and social issues across continents. A Q&A session follows every screening.