Iran’s ‘Scent of Wind’ catches Montgolfière d’argent from French festival

Arts & Culture Desk - IRAN DAILY

The Iranian film, ‘Scent of Wind,’ directed by Hadi Mohaqeq, received the Montgolfière d’argent award from the 44th edition of the Festival des 3 Continents (Three Continents Festival), which took place in Nantes, France, from November 18 to 27.

The French festival offered feature films from Africa, Latin America and Asia and screens both fiction and documentary films.

The Montgolfière d’argent is sponsored by the Regional Council of Loire-Atlantique and the festival.

The jury appreciated “the greatness and tenderness of this philosophical fable that succeeds in embodying, with total freedom, the main character’s perseverance in the sumptuous yet perilous Iranian mountains.”

Mohaqeq and Hossein Qurchian co-wrote the story of ‘Scent of Wind,’ set in a distant Iranian village, where a paralyzed man collects herbal medicine in the mountains for making a living with his sick child. The electricity goes off in his house and an electrician comes to fix it. Unfortunately, the problem is bigger than what was anticipated and may take days to be resolved. When he sees the child on the sickbed, he feels committed to doing whatever he can to bring the electricity back. However, he has a tough job ahead, facing nature and some unexpected events.

The jury was composed of Stéphane Batut, French director and casting director; Moustapha Mbengue, Italian-Senegalese musician and actor; Estelle Robin, film producer from Nantes and Axelle Ropert, French director.

The film, which screened as Busan International Film Festival’s opening title, picked up the Jiseok Competition Prize, sharing it with Yalkin Tuychiev’s ‘Alteration’ (Uzbekistan).

The Montgolfière d’or of this year’s edition was awarded to ‘Glorious Ashes’ by Vietnamese director Chuyên Bui Thac. The award is sponsored by the City of Nantes and the festival.

The jury declared: “We gave the award to this film for the poetic beauty of the world the film portrays, which is both shimmering and bewitching, as well as for the loving and very mischievous portrayal of its three heroines.”