“Yalda” wins best screenplay award at Barcelona film festival

TEHRAN –(Iranart)- Iranian drama “Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness” directed by Masud Bakhshi has won the award for best film at the Barcelona Sant Jordi International Film Festival (BCN Film Fest).

Written by Bakhshi, the Persian-language film is a co-production from Iran, France, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Lebanon.

It is about Maryam, a young woman who has been sentenced to death for murdering her husband, Nasser. Iranian law allows the victim’s family to forgive her and spare her life, so Maryam’s fate will be decided by Nasser’s daughter, Mona, on the country’s most popular televised reality show. In front of millions of viewers during Yalda, the winter solstice celebration, Maryam and Mona discover that forgiveness can be difficult as they relive the past.

The film has been screened at several international festivals and has won honors, including the Grand Jury Prize of the World Cinema Dramatic section of the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah in February 2020.

The BCN Film Fest was organized from April 15 to 23.

Director Eric Barbier’s “Petit Pays”, a co-production between France and Belgium, was picked as best film.

Ulrich Thomsen was selected as best actor for his role in Danish director Christina Rosendahl’s historic drama “The Good Traitor”, while Denise Gough for this film and Isabelle Kabano for “Petit Pays” shared the award for best actress.

The Castell de Peralada Festival Award for the Best Music was shared by “Last Call” by Steven Bramson and “Il Cattivo Poeta” by Michele Braga.

Portuguese drama “Sombra” by Bruno Gascon won the Critics Award and the award for best history film.

In this film, years after her son’s disappearance, a mother keeps trying to find him after a kidnapping that justice cannot resolve, as she moves into a universe that wants to force her to mourn a child she believes is still alive. The film is based on real events.

source: Tehran Times