Locarno Film Festival Winners: ‘Critical Zone’ By Persecuted Iranian Filmmaker Ali Ahmadzadeh Takes Top Prize
deadline.comIranian filmmaker Ali Ahmadzadeh clinched the Golden Leopard in the main international competition of the 76th Locarno Film Festival with his latest feature Critical Zone (Mantagheye Bohrani).
Ahmadzadeh was not in attendance to receive the award as he is currently banned from leaving his native Iran. Last month, the country’s authorities summoned Ahmadzadeh to the Ministry of Security, where he was pressured to pull Critical Zone from Locarno’s official competition.
The film’s international sales agent Luxbox Paris and the producer, Sina Ataeian Dena, also said they had received threatening emails and messages demanding the film be pulled from the fest.
The pic, described as “a hymn to freedom and resistance in Iran,” was shot without permission from authorities before recent protests started.
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