Winners of the 38th International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) were announced on Thursday, November 20, where Iranian filmmakers took home top prizes in two categories.
In the International Competition, the Best Film Award went to The Fox and the Pink Moon, co-directed by Mehrdad Oskouei and Soraya Khalaghi. In the Envision Competition, the Best Film Award was presented to Past Present Continuous, co-directed by Morteza Ahmadvand and Firoozeh Khosrovani.
Both winning films — international co-productions — received a €15,000 cash prize.
About The Fox and the Pink Moon:
Running 76 minutes, The Fox and the Pink Moon is a co-production between Iran, France, the UK, the United States, and Denmark, and took seven years to complete.
The film is described as a self-portrait of Soraya, an Afghan artist who has spent five years trying to reach Europe. She documents her entire journey on her phone while channeling her fears and anxieties into her artwork.
A few days before the film’s premiere, Soraya Khalaghi wrote on social media:
“Today, after seven years working on The Fox and the Pink Moon — a film in which I am the main character, cinematographer, and co-director — it finally appeared on the cinema screen. I felt as if my soul stood naked before more than five hundred people. When the film ende,d and the audience applauded, I suddenly wondered why I put myself through all this hardship…Maybe because these seven years were filled with fear, trauma, anxiety, escape, fighting, creating… and creating again. Last night was not just a screening; it was the moment I understood where I began, and where I have arrived.”
IDFA Jury Statement
The festival jury praised The Fox and the Pink Moon as:
“A window into the power of art and hope in our contemporary world. With skillful cinematography—much of it shot in dangerous circumstances—and the radiant energy of its protagonist, the film showcases a remarkable collaboration between an established filmmaker and a young artist. It allows its subject to reclaim herself amid exile and domestic violence, to flourish despite oppression, and to find solace through creation. This portrait testifies to the growth of an Afghan artist whose work will resonate far into the future.”
Jury Statement on Past, Present Continuous
The jury described the film as:
“A work with an extraordinary text, elevated by a form that deepens its themes. Time and place are both connected and suspended. The filmmakers construct a cinematic reality in which emotional truth emerges. Past Present Continuous presents itself as an unconventional, ironic cinematic experience that weaves together themes such as exile and personal memory.”
Source: ISNA