The Bergen International Film Festival (BIFF) is a film festival held annually in October in Bergen, Norway since 2000 which presents the best documentary productions.
The 2016 edition is scheduled to convene from September 20-28 and will host 70 works from around the world.
Oskouei’s Starless Dreams documentary will compete against nine other productions for the Checkpoints award as one of the main prizes at BIFF, selected by a jury from a competition program consisting of films focusing on human rights.
Meanwhile, Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami's Sonita will be also screened at a different section of the international event.
Wiener by Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg, Fire at Sea by Gianfranco Rosi, and Lo and Behold by Werner Herzog are among other notable documentaries to vie at BIFF.
It is worth mentioning that the poster for the upcoming edition of the festival will use a photo of Oskouei’s production.
Oskouei’s Starless Dreams documentary narrates the lives of a group of under 18-year-old girls taken into care for a variety of reasons ranging from drug dealing and trafficking, to pick-pocketing and manslaughter. Though bored with their incarcerated life, they are, nevertheless, scared about what might happen to them once outside. As the New Year approaches they all hope to celebrate it with their families.
The film has so far won 11 awards in national and international film festivals, including the Amnesty International Film Prize at the 66th Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlinale-Generation 14plus, Germany, and the Full Frame Inspiration Award at the 19th Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, North Carolina, USA.
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