During the closing ceremony of the 67th Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival held in the German city on Sunday, the Grand Newcomer Award Mannheim-Heidelberg for the best fiction feature film went to the Iranian film ‘Orange Days’ directed by Arash Lahooti. Lead actress Hedieh Tehran was given special praise for her outstanding performance in the film.
‘Orange Days’ also received the International Film Critics Prize given by the FIPRESCI Jury, as well as the Ecumenic Film Prize.
The film director, Arash Lahooti, could not attend the festival due to lack of cooperation from the German embassy for granting him a visa in time. The awards, therefore, were received by the film’s lead actor Ali Mosafa.
‘Orange Days’ narrates the story of “Aban, an overworked contractor in her forties, is dead set on outbidding her male competitor Kazem to harvest, with her crew of seasonal female workers, the largest orange orchard in the region.”
The 67th Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival (IFFMH) was held on 15-25 November 2018. It is considered the second-oldest film festival in Germany after Berlin.
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