Awards Winners
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P Like Pelican (P Mesle Pelican) (1972)
- Writer/Director: Parviz Kimiavi
- Camera: Mohammad Zarfam
- Sound: Heydar Nakhaie
- Editor: Farideh Asgari
- Dialogue: Nader Ebrahimi, A-Sayyed-Ali Mirza
- Production: National Iranian Television
- Cast: A-Sayyed-Ali Mirza and the children of the town of Tabas
- Iran, 26 min., 16mm, B&W, 1972
- Subtitled in English by IFVC US Premiere
- Awards: Special Prize, Switzerland Radio and TV; “Sesterce d’argent” Award, Nyon Film Festival; Merit Award, Montreal Film Festival; Special Critic Prize, Monte-Carlo Film Festival
This brilliant semi-documentary is considered to be the best short film made by Parviz Kimiavi before he switched to feature filmmaking in 1972.
The central character of P Like Pelican is a bewildered old man who sees himself as a fallen sparrow. The film is an example of the humanistic concern for individuals living in isolation that Kimiavi often deals with in his films. The old man is based on a real character named A-Sayyed-Ali Mirza who died two years after this film was made. He had lived for forty years in the ruins of Tabas, in an area of northeastern Iran, which has been the scene of several devastating earthquakes in recent times. The old man in the film teaches the alphabet to a group of children who are, for the most part, ungrateful. However, one of the boys tries to persuade him to take a trip to the nearby town to see a pelican, which has “come from far away and is white as snow and soft as a feather.”
About the filmmaker
Filmography:
Parviz Kimiavi was born in 1939 in Tehran, Iran. He graduated from the Louis Lumiere School of Cinematography in 1964 and I.D.H.E.C. in Paris in 1966. His first job was working as an assistant director with the French Television Network, O.R.T.F., for two years. While in Paris, Kimiavi directed two short films, Iranian Saint John and Flea Market. He returned to Iran in 1969, making a few short films for National Iranian Television before making his first feature film, The Mongols. His first short was The Hills of Qaitariyeh, followed by Oh, Deer Savior, which received various awards. His next short, P Like Pelican, was selected by Iranian film critics as the best short film of Iranian cinema made before the revolution. Kimiavi currently lives in Paris.The Hill of Qaitariyeh; Oh, Deer Savior, 1971; P Like Pelican, 1972; The Mongols, 1973, 90 min., 35mm; Special Jury Prize, Tehran Film Festival; Grand Prize, French Association for the Art of Cinema; Stone Garden,1976, 85 min., 35mm; Silver Bear, Berlin Film Festival; Special Jury Prize, Youth Film, Festival, Cannes, France; OK, Mister, 1978, 75 min., 35mm; Grand Prize, International Film Festival, Amiens, France; Trenches, 1982, 26 min., 16 mm, France; Blue Jeans Story, 1984, 52 min., l6mm, France; Simone Weil, 1988, 52 min., video, France; Tehrangeles, 1991, 52 min., video, France; A Propos de Nice, 1998, episode ‘Reperage’; Iran Is My Land, 2000, 90 min., 35mm; Special Jury Prize, Tehran Film Festival; The Old Man and His Stone Garden, 2004, 52 min., video; Special Jury Prize, FIPA, France; Best Director, Infinity Festival, Italy; First Prize, Eco-Vision Festival, Palermo, Italy
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The King Sun (Malek Khorshid) (1975)
- Animator/Director: Ali Akbar Sadeghi
- Story: Parviz Davai
- Writers: Parviz Davai, Ahmad Reza Ahmadi, Ali Akbar Sadeghi
- Camera: Mohammad Feyjani, Mehdi Samakar
- Sound: Harayer, Changiz Sayyad, Ahmad Asgari
- Music: Daryoush Dowlatshahi
- Editor: Harayer
- Production: The Iranian Institue For the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults
- Iran, 16 min., Color, 1975
This animated short film is based on a story from Iranian folklore. A prince falls in love with a beautiful girl the moment he sees her picture. He travels to seven cities in order to find her, encountering various characters along the way.
About the filmmaker:
Ali Akbar Sadeghi was born in 1937. He is a creative designer and a great painter who made several animated films and received various international prizes.
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The Red Fish (1994)
- Writer/Director: Amir G. Razi
- Camera: Nils Post
- Art Direction: Anet Wilgenhof
- Editor: Ton de Graf
- Music: S. Shaker
- Producer: Jan Ewout Ruiter
- Cast: Mahmod Azfar, Daniyal Razi, Irina Buturlina
- Holland, 15 min., Color, 1994
- Awards: Best Director, Best Cinematography, Taiwan International Film Festival at Taichung; Best Short Film, Valladolid International Film Festival (Spain); Best Short Film, Best Director, Cinekid Festival, Amsterdam; Best Film, Oberhausen International Short Film Festival (Germany); Best Film, Best Actor, Hamburg International Film Festival
A short film about death, life and film itself. A little boy, living with memories of the war, buys a red fish. An older boy films him with an 8mm camera. Suddenly the noise of the factory siren hearkens back to the war. The little boy flees and drops the fish bowl...
About the filmmaker:
Amir Gasem Razi was born in Tehran in 1960. At age 12 he began experimenting with 8 mm. This led to his first short film, Crow, for which he was awarded a gold medal in 1973. He graduated with degrees in cinema and theater from Tehran University and subsequently began his professional career as a director and writer. The Red Fish is the first film that he wrote and directed since moving to Holland.
Filmography:The Red Fish, 1994; Rose from Africa, 1998; The Poet Child, 2002; Seven Nights, 2006
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The Circle (Dayereh) (1999)
- Writer/Director: Mohammad Shirvani
- Camera: Bayram Fazli
- Sound: Behrouz Abedini
- Music: Fasto Papetti
- Editor: Mohammad Shirvani, Hassan Rashidghamat
- Producer: Mohammad Shirvani
- Cast: Daryoush Assadzadeh, Ali Taghvai, Nima Etminani
- Iran, 12 min., Color, 1999
- Awards: Honorary Diploma awarded by film critics, Cannes Film Festival, France, 1999; Best Short Film, International Fajr Film Festival, Iran, 1999.
An old man decides to spend one of his days in a different manner.
About the filmmaker
Filmography:
Mohammad Shirvani was born in Tehran in 1973 to a religious family who did not approve of the cinema. He has a bachelor degree in painting and design from Tehran University. In 1998 he made his first short film, The Circle, which brought him a lot of success, including an award at the Cannes Film Festival, and established him as a filmmaker to watch. He has made seven fiction shorts, one experimental feature, and three feature documentaries. His films have been screened at more than two hundred festivals, and have cumulatively won twenty-five national and eleven international awards.The Circle (Dayereh), 12 min, Short fiction, 35mm, 1999 (Winner, Honorary Diploma awarded by film critics, Cannes Film Festival, France, 1999; Best Short Film award, International Fajr Film Festival, Iran, 1999); The Candidate (Kandida), 15 min, DV to 35mm, Documentary, 2000 (Winner, Grand Prize, Marseille Documentary Film Festival, France, 2000); To Consent (Rezayat Name), 20 min, Short fiction, DV, 2001 (Winner, Gold Butterfly for Best Short Film, International Isfahan Children Film Festival, Iran, 2003); Souvenir (Kado), 20 min, Doc fiction, DV, 2001; The Cherries Which Were Canned (Gilas-ha’ee ke kompoot shod), Short fiction, 13 min, 35mm, 2002 (Winner, Best Short Film Award, International Fajr Film Festival, Iran, 2003); Iranian Conserve (Konserv-e Irani), Short fiction, 14 min, DV, 2004 (Winner, Reflet d’Or Award, Cinema Tout Ecran, Switzerland, 2004; Special Jury Prize, Cracow Short Film Festival, Poland, 2005; Special Jury Prize, Archipelago Short Film Festival, Italy, 2005); Navel (Nahf), 82 min, DV to 35mm, Art fiction, 2004 (Winner, Grand Prix for Best Feature Film, Split Film Festival, Croatia, 2004); The Calm City (Shahr-e Aram), 2 min, Video Art, 2005; President Mir Qanbar (Re’ees Jomhoor Mir Ghanbar), Documentary , 65 min, DV, 2005 (Winner, Award of Excellence, Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, Japan, 2005; Magnolia Award for V=Best Social Documentary, Shanghai TV Film Festival, China, 2006); Where’s Leili (Leili Kojast), Documentary 75 min, upon UNESCO’s Command; Seven Blind Female Filmmakers (Haft Filmsaz-e-Zan-e-Nabina), Doc [Episodic], 150 Min, DV, 2007
