“Asak” named best short doc at Vienna Ethnocineca festival

TEHRAN -(Iranart)- Iranian filmmaker Mehdi Zamanpur Kiasari’s “Asak” won the award for best short documentary at the 15th edition of the Vienna Ethnocineca International Documentary Film Festival.

“Asak”, which means a small hand-mill in the local dialect of southern Iran, is about the life of an 80-year-old blind man who lives in that area.

He earns money by making handicrafts and utensils from stone. The documentary’s most remarkable feature is the spiritual divine talent of the old man in interpreting dreams as well as his fascinating ability to climb mountains to collect stones and identifying the right types of stones by simply touching and tasting them.  

“Asak” had previously received several other awards from numerous festivals, including the International Golden Saffron Documentary Film Festival in Turkey, Arica Nativa Rural Film Festival in Chile, Parnu International Documentary Film Festival in Estonia, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in the U.S., Golden Tree International Documentary Festival in Germany, and the Belgrade Documentary and Short Film Festival in Serbia.

The Ethnocineca festival, which ran online this year due to the pandemic, announced the winners last Thursday.

The award for best feature documentary was given to “The Rain Never Stops” by Alina Gorlova from Ukraine.

The Excellence in Visual Anthropology Award went to “The Body Won't Close” by Mattijs van de Port from the Netherlands.

“Once Upon a Time in Venezuela” won the award for best Austrian documentary. Directed by Anabel Rodriguez Rios, the film is a co-production from Austria, Venezuela, the UK and Brazil.

The Ethnocineca Student Shorts Award went to “Marea” directed by Vania Quevedo. It is a co-production between Mexico and Cuba.

source: Tehran Times