“About Elly” was an entry to Love Is Folly, an international film festival that ran from August 26 to 31 in Varna, Bulgaria.
The jury members unanimously picked “About Elly” for the prize, Iranian actress Hengameh Qaziani who was among the jury members of the festival told the Persian service of ISNA here on Saturday.
“About Elly” tells the story of middle class Iranians whose trip to the Caspian Sea turns into a tragedy as they try to uphold their social customs.
“I first asked other jury members to announce their opinions after the film screening and they all agreed with ‘About Elly’,” she added.
“Only one or two critics had an objection to the decision, but I strongly defended the movie at the critics’ session and accepted the award in Farhadi’s absence at the closing ceremony,” she said.
She continued, “I was the only Iranian member among the jury. The jury members were selected from among those who had already won an award from the festival and I took the best actress award for the film ‘So Simple”’.
“Bulgarians are very interested in Iran’s cinema and their cultures are somewhat similar to ours. As the only representative from Iran, I received a warm welcome at the festival,” she mentioned.
Thirteen films from Europe, Asia and the U.S were competing for the Golden Aphrodita Award at the festival that is dedicated to romantic films.
RM/YAW
END
MNA