AEI Film Festival: Best Feature Documentary Award for "Seven Winters in Tehran"

The film Seven Winters in Tehran (2023) won the attention of the jury of the 7th AEI Film Festival Cyprus, and was awarded the Best Documentary Award, on 3 November at the closing ceremony of the festival, which was attended by the Deputy Minister of Culture, Dr Vassiliki Kassianidou, the Australian High Commissioner in Cyprus, Fiona McKergow and numerous other people.

After the latest incident of 2 November 2, with the arrest of a woman in Tehran who, in protest of being reprimanded by Iran's ethics police for not wearing her hijab properly, walked in her underwear outside the university, the film Seven Winters in Tehran becomes more relevant than ever. The award-winning documentary tells the true story of 19-year-old Reyhaneh Jabbari, from Iran, who by killing her would-be rapist in 2007 had become a beacon of courage in the fight against injustice and oppression, illuminating the struggles of those who speak out in the face of fear and censorship. The film draws attention to the global need for freedom of speech, justice and dignity, reminding us that the struggle for these rights transcends any country, religion or culture.

Deputy Minister of Culture, Dr Vassiliki Kassianidou

Reyhaneh Jabbari was executed for murder after seven years in a Tehran prison. According to the AEI Film Festival jury, "the prize for Best Documentary in the feature-length category goes to the German film Seven Winters in Tehran, directed by Steffi Niederzoll, a story of strength and unyielding spirit that pays tribute to those who bravely challenge repression".

Stavros Papageorgiou

The 7th AEI Film Festival, offered documentary film lovers an array of quality documentary films from all over the world, from October 26 to November 3, 2024, at the Costas and Rita Severis Foundation, in the Old Nicosia. The awards of this year's festival were presented as follows:

● Best Film, in the feature documentary category, Seven Winters in Tehran, directed by Steffi Niederzoll.

● Best Director, in the feature documentary category, won by Penelope McDonald for the Australian film Audrey Napanangka.

● Best Cinematography, in the Feature Documentary category, winning for the Spanish film "Pico Reja", directed by Remedios Malvárez and Arturo Andújar and cinematography by Luis Castilla.

● The French documentary "Venus de Milos", directed by Natasha Giler, won Best Film in the medium-length documentary category.

● Best Director, in the medium-length category, to Kerem Soyyilmaz for the Turkish film "Searching for Rodakis".

● Best Cinematography, in the medium-length category, to the Albanian documentary "Zoje", 2024, directed and filmed by Pandeli Ceco.

● Best Film, in the short documentary category, to "Mother Truckers", directed by Paula Romero.

● Best Director, in the short film category, to Hadil Alramli, for the Palestinian documentary "Three Nights in Haifa".

● Best Cinematography, in the short film category, for the Cypriot short documentary "Ermoupoli", directed by Haralambos Margaritis.

This year's AEI Film Festival Honourary Artist was Adonis Christoforou for his contribution to photography and directing.

The AEI Film Festival is organised by the non-profit cultural organisation AEI AUDIOVISUAL FORUM and its institutional sponsor the Cyprus Ministry of Culture through the program CULTURE and KYPRIA. In addition, the AEI Film Festival was financially supported by OPAP CYPRUS, the Embassy of Spain in Nicosia and the Municipality of Nicosia. Among the supporters of the Festival were also the Goethe Institute and the Embassies of Greece and Palestine. This year the AEI Film Festival was also supported by the cultural cooperation with Frederick University and the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT).

Photo: In the main photo, the director of the Goethe Institute Cyprus, receives the award for Best Feature Film, on behalf of the director Steffi Niederzoll.