An Iranian Filmmaker Wins Best Film Award in Un Certain Regard Section at Cannes Festival

The jury of the Un Certain Regard section of the 71st Cannes Film Festival, chaired by renowned actor Benicio del Toro, announced the winners on Friday evening, awarding the main prize to the film "Border" from Sweden and Denmark, directed by Iranian-descendant Ali Abbasi. Abbasi's film, which premiered in the early days of the festival, tells the story of a middle-aged woman working as a customs officer. She possesses special abilities, including the ability to sense human emotions, and seeks to uncover her unnatural roots through her encounters with a unique being. The film received significant acclaim from critics and audiences and was considered a strong contender for the award in the Un Certain Regard section. "Border" is Abbasi's second feature film; his first, titled "Shelley," a horror film, was showcased in the Panorama section of the Berlin Festival two years ago. Born in 1981 in Tehran, Abbasi left Iran at the age of 21 to study architecture in Denmark and has since resided abroad. This marks the second consecutive year that an Iranian filmmaker has won the Best Film award in the Un Certain Regard section at the prestigious Cannes Festival, following Mohammad Rasoulof's win last year with "The Lord." This year, other awards in this section included Best Director to Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa for "Donbass," Best Actor to Victor Polster for his acclaimed performance as a transgender teenager in the Belgian film "Girl," and Best Screenplay to Maryam Benmabrouk for the French-Qatari film "Sofia." The jury's special prize in this section was awarded to the film "The Dead and the Others" from Brazil and Portugal. The main festival awards will be presented on Saturday night at a ceremony in the Lumière Hall. The screenings of films in this section concluded on Friday evening with the screening of the latest film by acclaimed Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Recently, several films, including the emotional drama "Capernaum" by Lebanese female filmmaker Nadine Labaki and the South Korean film "Burning," have received significant attention. This year's jury for the main section of the Cannes Festival, which has a majority of women, is chaired by Australian actress Cate Blanchett. Babak Ghafouri Azar, a producer at Radio Farda, follows developments in the cinema and theater sectors. He joined Radio Farda in 2010 and has published various investigative reports on events during the first decade of the establishment of the Islamic Republic. Ghafouri Azar began his journalism career in Iran in 2001.