“Cocoon and Butterfly” named best at Roshd Intl. Film Festival

TEHRAN – (Iranart)- “The Cocoon and Butterfly” was crowned best at the 50th Roshd International Film Festival, receiving the gold award of the Iranian festival, which promotes films on educational topics for children.

The film tells the story of Parvaneh, a seven-year-old girl who lives with her father in a northern Iranian village, where she lost her mother in a fire several years earlier. Her leg was also injured in the fire and her father doesn’t let her go to school since it is a long distance from their home. He also doesn’t allow anyone to teach Parvaneh even basic literacy. However, Yavar, a boy in their neighborhood, decides to teach her literacy furtively.

Directed by Mohammad Salehinejad, the film also won the Golden Butterfly for best feature film at the 33rd International Film Festival for Children and Youth in Tehran last October.       

“Chor: The Bicycle”, a drama film directed by Indian filmmaker Khanjan Kishore Nath and produced by Sanjive Narain, won the silver award of the Roshd festival.

The gold award for best animated film went to “The Eleventh Step” by Maryam Kashkulinia from Iran.

“The Eleventh Step” is about a little lion cub, born in a zoo. He lives in a cage that is only ten steps long. On the eleventh step, he bangs his head against the bars, but one day the zookeeper leaves the cage door open.  

“Autumn Winds, Spring Winds and Two Doves” by Sadeq Javadi won the silver award in this section.

The movie produced at the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA) is about a boy who sets out on an arduous journey to his friend. A dove and a horse help him reach his destination.

“The Beginning” by Indian filmmaker Sandeep Kumar Verma was selected as best short at the festival. It’s a journey of a kid, set in the mystical mountains of the Himalayas to learn where his grandfather has gone after he died and what happens after death.

source: Tehran Times