Tehran – The short Iranian documentary, Karun – Iran’s Longest River, was written and directed by Sand Sarhadi and won the award at the 11th Apricot Tree International Documentary Film Festival, held from August 30th to September 6th in Yerevan, Armenia.
Of the 20 documentaries from 17 countries participating in the festival, four films have won top awards, Mehr reported.
“Karn – Iran’s Longest River,” a 2024 co-production in Iran, Switzerland and Finland, was a short documentary from France, “The Oasis I Shorve,” two feature films from the “New Beginning” from Belgium and “Wind no No Tail,” meaning “Tail” from Russia.
The 19-minute film, “Karun – Iran’s Longest River” is about Iranian poet Hamid Hajizadeh and his nine-year-old son Karun.
Based on the statements of survivors, the documentary sensibly attempts to reconstruct one of the many horrifying politically motivating events that took place in Iran at the end of the last century, attracting us on a fateful day with the help of detailed shots of objects in Hamid’s research.
Sahand Sarhaddi, 34, is a filmmaker and visual artist. He is a 2023 “Talent of Berlin” graduate and graduated in theater and dramatic literature at the Faculty of Art at the University of Tehran.
In 2006 he began working with several publications as a photographer. His artwork focuses on integrating stories that are not told in history, photography, music and literature. His works have been featured in more than 10 solo and group exhibitions (photography, video art, performance arts, and more). He also directed five short and feature films that were shown at festivals in Iran, Switzerland, France, the UK, the US, Germany, Canada and more.
Sarhaddi joined the Iranian Documentary Filmmakers Association in 2020 and is currently a member of the Board of Directors. He is also a member of the film house.
Iranian filmmaker, researcher and lecturer Hadi Afaride is one of the three ju umpires in this year’s festival edition, along with German director of the Goethe Institute in Yerevan, and Serge Merrick Hofspian, director of Ahman/France.
Born in Tehran by 41-year-old Hadi Afaride, he began his art career in theater in 1998, and in 2001 he began his art career in cinemas at the Iran Youth Film Association (IYCS). He was named Best Documentary Filmmaker in the first specialized workshop of documentary filmmaking in Iran by the 2006 Documentary and Experimental Film Centre and the Iranian Association of Documentary Filmmakers.
Afarideh has participated in over 140 Iranian and international festivals and has won various awards for his director, writing and researching three short films and 19 documentaries.
He is a member of the Iranian Association of Documentary Filmmakers and the Iranian Short Film Association (ISFA). Currently he teaches films and holds documentary filmmaking classes at IYCS and the Iranian Academy of Contemporary Arts.
The Apricot Tree International Documentary Film Festival takes place in Armenia from late August to early September each year. Since 2023, the festival has been held in the village of Debett.
It is a celebration of documentary films of all genres (ethnography, experimentation, animation, etc.) as it is a platform where filmmakers around the world can meet and discuss ideas in a friendly atmosphere.
SS/SAB