Iranian-based woman director Anahita Qazvinizadeh has been garnered as the top winner of this year’s Cannes Cinéfondation Award for her short production.

Qazvinizadeh who is currently student at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago (SAIC) received the prize for her film dubbed The Needle.

The 21-minute movie is about a 6th-grade girl caught in a tug of war between divorced parents.

Qazvinizadeh studied Bachelor of Arts at the Tehran University then left the country to continue her education for MFA in studio arts, in Chicago.

Created in 1998 and devoted to the search for new talent, the Cinéfondation selects fifteen to twenty short and medium-length works each year from film schools across the world.

Cinefondation short film competition is held as one of many sidebars in the world’s premier celebration of cinema.

Academy Award-winning Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi’s latest film The Past (Le Passé) was also presented at the 66th Cannes International Film Festival.

The movie took part in the Competition section of the event to contend for this year’s Palm D'Or.

Paris-set tale screen production, The Past, which shares some similarities with Farhadi’s Oscar-winning picture A Separation, was warmly welcomed by many critics who followed the film.

Named among the top 100 most anticipated films of 2013, the movie started its public screening at the French movie theaters during recent days.

The 66th Cannes International Film Festival that kicked off on May 15 will run until May 26, 2013.


HK