Tehran – Written and directed by Mohammad Yaragi, Iranian short film Unparallel World won an award at the 17th Lighthouse International Film Festival (LIFF) held on Long Beach Island, New Jersey, USA.
The film won the Ju-Jeal Social Impact Award for the shorts section of an event last week.
The 22-minute film offers a realistic portrayal of life through the eyes of a six-year-old girl who grew up in a class-divided society.
A young girl without a poor mother is forced by her father to work as a peddler at a traffic light. She has dreams, but tragic events wipe out her hopes.
The cast includes Aynaz Fakour, Abbas Imani, Davood Mohammadabadi, Payam Hagnejad, Mehdi Hashemi, Ghazal Kuchakbeig, Mohammad Soori and Samin Ostadi.
“Unparallel World” won the grand prize at the Euroshorts Festival, previously held in Poland, and was also shown at the Bush Festival in Hungary.
The Lighthouse International Film Festival is an independent US event that presents stories, documentaries and experimental films from filmmakers around the world.
It’s not only a world-class film festival, but it’s also a unique, cultural beach-centric experience like no other. Liff was twice recognized by Moviemaker Magazine as one of the “25 coolest film festivals in the world” (2018, 2020).
The 17th edition also offered extraordinary screenings of hot new films such as Sundance, SXSW, Toronto, Berlin, Cannes and Venice, as well as riffs, which also offered engaging panels, masterclasses and networking events.
Liff Mission is to give independent filmmakers around the world the opportunity to hear their voices and tell their stories, enable diverse storytelling, and give audiences the opportunity to explore current issues while being educated, enlightened, engaged and always entertained.
Festival organizers believe that films have the power to bridge film as an art form and promote our common respect for humanity, whilst having the power to bridge the universality of human experience.
One of Liff’s core missions is to choose cutting-edge, thought-inspired independent films that reflect the most influential social issues of the time.
SS/SAB