The day’s big winners included Maryam Keshavarz’s “The Persian Version”, which claimed both the Audience Award and Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award in U.S. Dramatic Competition, as well as A.V. Rockwell’s “A Thousand and One” for Focus Features, which took the Grand Jury Prize in the same section.
Written, directed and produced by Keshavarz for Archer Grey, “The Persian Version” watches as a large Iranian-American family gathers for the patriarch’s heart transplant, with a secret then being uncovered that catapults an estranged mother and daughter into an exploration of the past.
“Shayda” directed by Noora Niasari from Australia also won Audience Award at the category of World Cinema Dramatic Competition.
The 2023 festival has spotlighted 111 features and 64 shorts, selected from 15,856 submissions, via screenings in Park City, Salt Lake City, and at the Sundance Resort. Over 75% of both short and feature-length works, along with many selected Indie Episodics, will be available for streaming via the fest’s online platform through January 29.
Sundance Film Festival began on January 19 and will run through January 29 in the USA.
Source: Tehran Times