The Iranian film, ‘A Hero,’ directed by two-time Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi won the Silver Mirror Award (Best Film Award) at the 31st Films from the South, in Oslo, Norway.
Iram Haq, Jens Lien, and Gudny Hummelvoll were the jury members of the Main Competition Section of the festival.
The film had three screenings on November 12, 14 and 20.
The Silver Mirror Award is the main award of the Films from the South. It is awarded to the best film out of the 11 nominees in the Main Competition.
The Iranian film, ‘Ballad of a White Cow,’ co-directed by Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moqaddam also competed at the same section with Farhadi’s film.
The 31st edition of Films from the South festival runs from November 11 to 21. The largest film festival in Oslo, Norway, presents films and filmmakers from Asia, Africa and Latin America for an expanding audience, under the slogan, “See the world from a different angle”.
The jury made the following statement about their pick:
“‘A Hero’ is a captivating and unpredictable film about vanity and hypocrisy. The film draws us into Iranian social structures and offers an ironic perspective on the common man's relationship with what’s good in the world.”
“Seemingly small lies can have grave consequences. Particularly in a society where the struggle for how we wish to be represented trumps the truth. The film is highly relevant with its commentary on the times in which we live in relation to celebrity culture and the media. Director Asghar Farhadi’s precise direction elevates this unpredictable and intricate story and provides all the characters with recognizable human qualities.”
The director of the festival Lasse Skagen said, “Asghar Farhadi was one of two recipients of the Jury Grand Prix at Cannes earlier this year. ‘A Hero’ marks his return to Iran after his previous, European film, ‘Everybody Knows’ (2018). We are presented with a moral tale in the style of Bresson (L’Argent): A bag of gold coins and a noble deed end up creating more of a mess than the protagonist could have imagined. Family life, social media, and the heroic deed itself are all subjected to a complex moral examination – a format we know that this director has full mastery of,” according to the festival’s website.
According to IMDB, ‘A Hero’ is the story of Rahim who is in prison because of a debt he was unable to pay. During a two-day leave, he tries to convince his creditor to withdraw his complaint against the payment of part of the sum. But things don’t go as planned.
Amir Jadidi, Mohsen Tanabandeh, Fereshteh Sadr-Orafai and Sarina Farhadi starred in the drama.
Farhadi produced the film together with Alexandre Mallet-Guy of Memento Films International.
‘A Hero’ has also been screened at the 69th edition of the BFI London Film Festival in the UK.