TEHRAN, May 23 (MNA) – Iranian movie Today has been awarded in the Washington, D.C. International Film Festival.Directed by Reza Mirkarimi, the film received the festival's SIGNIS award, IRNA reported.

In his third feature to be chosen as Iran’s foreign-language Oscar submission, Reza Mirkarimi probes social issues through a restrained, tightly focused character drama.

Today chronicles a brief but stirring encounter between two strangers. The small-scale drama is the story of a Tehran taxi driver who becomes the impromptu protector of a desperate young pregnant woman after he rushes her to hospital.

Today is a profound testament to the enduring power of empathy and fellow feeling in an increasingly cruel and prejudicial world. With a pair of absorbing performances, Parastoui and Golestani draw the viewer gradually in, painting a highly sympathetic portrait of suffering in the context of a seemingly uncaring environment.

Mirkarimi structures his narrative with a balanced, emotional rhythm, slowly and skillfully disclosing his characters' back-stories as he observes them with the objectivity for which contemporary Iranian filmmaking is renowned.

By Mehr News Agency