THE FRENCH-IRANIAN ‘UNTIL TOMORROW’ WINS THE 37TH MOSTRA DE VALÈNCIA, THE FILM DENOUNCES THE REPRESSION AGAINST WOMEN IN TEHRAN

THE FILM WINS TWO MORE AWARDS (DIRECTION AND ACTRESS), WHILE THE ISRAELI ‘CONCERNED CITIZEN’, BY IDAN HAGUEL, IS RECOGNIZED WITH THE SILVER PALM, BEST SCREENPLAY AND BEST ACTOR

Two films were the most awarded at the closing gala of the 37th Mostra de València-Cinema del Mediterrani. The French-Iranian ‘Until tomorrow’, by Ali Asgari won three of the main awards of the night (the Golden Palm Tree, Best Director and Best Actress for Sadaf Asgari). The Israeli film ‘Concerned Citizen’, by Idan Haguel, won the Silver Palm Tree, the award for best script and best actor, for Shlomi Bertonov. The best cinematography award went to Paolo Carnera for his work in ‘Nostalgia’, by Mario Martone. The best music went to Amin Bouhafa, composer of ‘Among the Fig Trees’.

The winning film receives a reward of 30,000 euros plus 15,000 for the Spanish distributor. It is a Franco-Iranian co-production focuses on the plight of a young woman living in Tehran. Fereshteh is forced to hide her illegitimate baby for one night from her parents, who come for a surprise visit. Its director, Ali Asgari, was exultant: “I am very happy to obtain all this recognition from Mostra. It is a great honor for me; but, above all, it is very important for the film because it will be distributed in Spain. Specially at these difficult times for Iran where women and many people are protesting and fighting for basic rights. My film addresses this issue. I believe that this award comes at a very special moment and I hope it is a signal for freedom and light to come to my country”.

The other most exultant face of the night was Idan Haguel, director, screenwriter and producer of ‘Concerned Citizen’, which, in addition to the Silver Palmera, won a prize of 20,000 euros. The film is a satire about the way of life of many white and bourgeois homosexuals embodied in a gay couple living in Tel Aviv. Haguel also had to collect the award from his leading actor, Shlomi Bertonov, who was at the time performing in a theater show in Tel Aviv.

The closing gala, held at La Rambleta, was presented by Daniel Tormo, Noèlia Pérez and Josep Zapater. The jury was made up of the composer Evanthia Reboutsika (Greece), the Palestinian cinematographer Ehab Assal, the Spanish screenwriter María Mínguez, the French critic and programmer Pierre-Simon Gutman and the Croatian actress, screenwriter and director Lana Baric. They decided to concentrate the awards on two titles. The ceremony was followed by the screening of ‘The Gigantes’, the new film by Valencian director Beatriz Sanchis, a road movie set on the border between the United States and Mexico.

The Audience Award of the Informative Section went to ‘No Dogs or Italians Allowed’, by Alain Ughetto. A stop motion film in which the director pays tribute to his family of emigrants and which competed in the last edition of the Annecy festival. The film recalls the journey from a town in Northern Italy to France in search of a better future at the beginning of the 20th century.

The Mostra de València – Cinema del Mediterrani, in its 37th edition, has had the collaboration of the Institut Valencià de Cultura (IVC), Rambleta, València Film Office, Barreira Arte + Diseño and À Punt Mèdia as official media.