Iranian short 'White Winged Horse', directed by Mahyar Mandegar, received a Special Mention in Generation 14plus.
The Juries, including Abbas Amini (Iran), Jenna Bass (South Africa), and Rima Das (India), gave the award to the ‘White Winged Horse’ for using “the audience’s imagination to build an exceptional world, following an unlikely protagonist who nonetheless inspires strong emotion. When fantasy eventually re-connects with reality, we can feel as if we are flying away with the white-winged horse.”
The film narrates the story of a man returning to his Iranian hometown, which was destroyed in the war 20 years ago. He is searching for his childhood sweetheart who had promised him eternal love – if he were to return as a white-winged horse. Past and present overlap in the poetic memory and imagination of the boy he once was.
This section’s Grand Prix went to ‘Meu nome é Bagdá’ (‘My Name Is Baghdad’) by Caru Alves de Souza, from Brazil.
Another Iranian film, ‘The Kites’ directed by Seyed Payam Hosseini, also received a Special Mention in Generation Kplus.
The members of the International Jury Generation Kplus comprised Marine Atlan, María Novaro and Erik Schmitt.
The film received the award because it “tells us about borders, how they can be dizzying, terrifying and arbitrary. And because it’s a poetic tale that shows us that language can go beyond words and that empathy can be felt from afar.”
'The Kites' is the story of a young girl whose kite flies away on the slope of a river valley along the Iraqi-Iranian border of Kurdistan. She calls three boys for help. However, the children are not only separated by the river valley, but also by the explosive legacies of past wars.
This section’s Grand Prix went to ‘Los Lobos’ (‘The Wolves’) by Samuel Kishi Leopo from Mexico.
The 70th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival was held on February 20 - March 01, 2020.
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