The young female filmmaker Ida Panahandeh, who won the Promising Future Prize at the ‘Un Certain Regard’ section of the 68th Cannes Film Festival for her debut feature film ‘Nahid’ less than a month ago, was honored at a ceremony held by the Documentary and Experimental Film Center (DEFC) in Tehran.

‘Nahid’ was the first film of the DEFC under the auspices of Seyed Mohammad-Mahdi Tabatabai-Nejad, managing director of the center. He thanked his colleagues “who worked hard” to select 5 screenplays out of a total of 35 for production during the past year, MNA reported.

Panahandeh pointed to the “inevitable dependence of directors on government organizations” and said, “It is fortunate that there are competent managers to help the youth; however, I do regret that many a young talent is deprived of the right to shine and flourish due to mismanagement.”

Bijan Emkanian, producer of ‘Nahid’, said he left “no stone unturned to find a source to finance the film, but to no avail; it was Tabatabai-Nejad who saw the screenplay in a positive light and the project got started.”
Big Honor
“When I embarked on the project, I was not thinking of participating in the Cannes festival, let alone winning an award; I just worked to add to the Iranian collection of good movies; but ‘Nahid’ went forward and won even a trophy, which is a great honor for the cast and crew as well as the whole country,” Emkanian noted.
Panahandeh was presented with a commendation plaque and cash prize by Tabatabai-Nejad.

DEFC is the main center for production, distribution and promotion of fiction, documentary, animation and experimental films in Iran. It produces 25 long feature and 300 short films per year.

Moreover, it offers services to film festivals, film markets, TV channels, theaters, universities, institutes and other organizations, which are interested in Iranian fiction, documentary, animation, experimental and feature films.

By Financial Tribune