Iran’s film triumphs at Hanoi international film festival

The film 'The Dark Room' by Rouhollah Hejazi from Iran won the best feature film award at the fifth Hanoi International Film Festival 2018 (HANIFF).

A representative of 'The Dark Room' film crew receives the award. (Photo: NDO/Tuyet Loan)
A representative of 'The Dark Room' film crew receives the award. (Photo: NDO/Tuyet Loan)

The awards ceremony was held at the Cultural Friendship Palace, Hanoi, on October 31.

The best short film prize was given to ‘Water’ by Aizhana Kassymbek from Kazakhstan.

The Philippines’ Christian Bables won the best actor for his role in the film ‘Signal Rock’, while Phuong Anh Dao, in the film ‘Nham mat thay mua he’ (Summer In Closed Eyes), was honoured as the best actress.

Polish director Piotr Domalewski was named best director for his feature film ‘Silent Night’ and Nguyen Le Hoang Viet of Vietnam was announced the best young short-film director for the film ‘Ban cung phong’ (Roommate).

The judge’s awards for feature and short films went to ‘The countryside people’ by Serbia’s director Vladimir Todorovic and ‘Hai dua tre’ (Two kids) by Ta Quynh Tu of Vietnam, respectively.

The film ‘Student’, by Lee Kyung-sub from the Republic of Korea, was honoured with the Network for Promotion and Asian Cinema (NETPAC) award.

This year’s festival featured 147 films from 45 countries and territories around the world, including a total 47 of Vietnamese films.

Notably, audiences enjoyed outdoor screenings at Ly Thai To Flower Park with three films: ‘Co Ba Saigon’ (The Tailor) from Vietnam, ‘Anida and the floating circus’ (Argentina) and ‘Simple’ (Australia).

A wide variety of practical activities were held on the sidelines, including a HANIFF script-writing camp, film project market, seminars, and film discussions.

Director Nguyen Le Hoang Viet receives the best young short-film director award. (Photo: NDO/Tuyet Loan)