“Bending the Rules” wins special jury award at German filmfest

TEHRAN,Nov.17(MNA) -- Iranian director Behnam Behzadi’s acclaimed movie “Bending the Rules” has been honored with one of the two special jury awards at the 62nd International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg (IFFMH) in Germany. Behzadi attended the closing ceremony of the event on November 10 to receive the prize, organizers announced. The other special jury award went to “Before Snowfall”, a joint production of Norway, Germany and Iraq by director Hisham Zaman. “Molasses”, a joint production of Cuba, France and Panama by director Carlos Lechuga, won the main award of festival, which is presented in the Newcomer of the Year section. “Bending the Rules” tells the story of an enthusiastic amateur theatrical group that receives an opportunity to perform abroad, which is a great success. Shahrazad, a desperate girl, joins the group and takes the leading role in a play. She decides, unlike her other fellow actors, to tell the truth to her father who is against this trip. The group is now faced with a dilemma: replace her or…. The film won the special jury prize at the 26th Tokyo International Film Festival in October. In February, it was presented with the Crystal Simorgh for best film in the international section of the 31st Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran. Behzadi, who is also the writer of the screenplay for the film, won the Crystal Simorgh for best script in the national competition of the festival.