Qobadi’s films "A Time for Drunken Horses" (2000) and "Marooned in Iraq" (2002) also won awards at the Chicago Film Festival.
“Turtles Can Fly” tells the story of people from a village in Iraqi Kurdistan bordering Iran and Turkey who are desperately searching for a satellite dish in order to keep updated on the imminent U.S. attack on Iraq. Then a boy and his sister with her wounded child arrive from another village, indicating that the war is getting closer and closer.
“Turtles” won the Golden Butterfly for Best Film for Children and Young Adults at the 19th Isfahan International Festival held in October. Qobadi also collected the Golden Butterfly for Best Director in the international section and the Special Jury Award in the Iranian films section at the festival.
The film also won the Golden Shell for Best Picture at the 52nd Donostia San Sebastian International Film Festival, held last September in Spain.
Qobadi had previously won the Best Director Award for “Turtles” at the 8th Celebration of Iranian Cinema, which was held on September 12 in Tehran.
The film has been selected by the Iranian board to represent the Iranian motion picture industry in the category of Best Foreign Language Film at the 77th Annual Academy Awards, which will be held on February 27, 2005.
The Chicago Film Festival awarded the Golden Hugo, its top prize, to Hungarian writer/director Nimrod Antal for his film "Kontroll".
MMS/AS/HG
End
MNA