Iranian director Mazaheri wins Tribeca Film Fest Awards
Iranian filmmaker Kaveh Mazaheri won the short honor for Best Narrative for ‘Retouch’ at Tribeca Film Fest in the US.
According to honaronline.ir, Mazaheri said he was unable to attend the festival due to the travel ban imposed by Republican President Donald Trump.
He said in a video message that he and his crew were unable to get visas for Tribeca.
He said his absence was ‘a pity’ in view of the “fascinating decisions” by Trump.
Courts have halted Trump’s bid to stop immigration from six predominantly Muslim counties: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Trump has appealed the courts’ rulings, saying he’s trying to keep the United States safe.
‘Keep the Change’ narrates a romance between a couple who meet at a community on the autistic spectrum. ‘Bobbi Jene’ was also among the top winners at the 16th Tribeca Film Festival.
Tribeca co-founder Jane Rosenthal happily noted that all five feature film awards went to movies directed by women. The festival also gives an award, named after Nora Ephron, to a female director. That prize went to Petra Volpe, writer-director of ‘The Divine Order’ — a drama about women’s suffrage in Switzerland.
Best international feature went to Elina Psykou’s Greek drama ‘Son of Sofia’.
The Tribeca Film Festival was founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff, reportedly in response to the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the Tribeca neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, although there are reports that its founding was underway prior to the events of 9/11.