“Asho” wins best short-medium doc award at Greece Olympia festival

TEHRAN –(Iranart)- Iranian filmmaker Jafar Najafi’s “Asho” has won the award for best short and medium-length documentary at the 23rd Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People.

“Asho” is about a little shepherd interested in cinema. The routine with his herd is challenging, but passion for Hollywood and acting allows his dreams to mix in with real life. Asho and a girl, who were promised for each other in marriage since they were small as dictated by tradition in his village, try to ignore love with their childish tenacity.

“This film gave us a great glimpse into the life of a unique young boy and his love of films,” the festival jury said in their statement published on the closing day of the event on December 8.

“It gave a great balance between older traditions and the new world intertwining, and the inner conflict it can sometimes create for the young protagonist. The shots were beautifully done, and the audience gets a chance to get to know the unique character of Asho,” the jury added.

“Asho” was selected as the best children’s documentary at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) in November.

The Olympia festival, which took place in the Greek cities of Pyrgos and Amaliada from November 28 to December 5, gave the award for best feature film to “Antigone” by Sophie Deraspe from Canada.

The award for best short fiction film went to “Our Time” by Veronica Spedicati from Italy, while “Cornstalk” by Anastasiia Zhakulina from Russia was selected as best short animation.

Samuel Kishi Leopo from Mexico was picked as best director for the film “Los Lobos”, and the Argentinean drama “Delfin” written by Gaspar Scheuer won the award for best screenplay.

The award best young actress went to Riva Krymalowski for her role in Caroline Link’s “When Hitler Stole the Pink Rabbit”, a co-production between Germany and Switzerland.

Nikolas Kisker won the award for best young actor for his role in “Daniel ’16” by Dimitris Koutsiabasakos from Greece.

The India-South Korea co-production “Pearl of the Desert” by Pushpendra Singh won the award for best feature documentary.

source: Tehran Times