UK Selects ‘Winner’ in Farsi as International Drama Submission – The Hollywood Reporter
British Academy selected WinnerThe Farsi-language drama series by British-Iranian writer/director Hassan Nazer is the UK entry for next year’s International Feature Film Awards at the Oscars.
Fully funded in Scotland with support from Creative Scotland and qualified Britons through a cultural test, Winner was shot entirely in Iran with 100% Farsi dialogue and post-production in Scotland. The film premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in August this year, where it won the audience award.
Set in a poor village in Iran where children work hard to support their families, Winners follows nine-year-old Yahya and his friend Leyla, who one day find a precious statue in the sand. desert. As authorities search for a lost treasure that shares a passion for cinema, Yahya’s boss Nasser Khan decides to help the kids find its owner.
Written and directed by Aberdeen-based Nazer, the cast includes Reza Naji, Hossein Abedini, Parsa Maghami, Helia Mohammadkhani and Malalai Zikria, with cinematography by Arash Seifi Jamadi, editing by Hassan Nazer , Dave Arthur and Reza Jouze and music by Mohsen Amini and Mohammad Saeed Shayan. The film is produced by Nadira Murray (Sylph Productions) and Paul Welsh (Edge City Films), and is funded by Screen Scotland, World Film Productions and Sylph Productions.
Winner – will have a limited UK release in November – giving Iran plenty of screenings at next year’s Oscars. Along with Iran’s own entry, Houman Seyyedi’s dark World War III, Holy Spider-Man submission from Denmark’s critically acclaimed Ali Abbasi is also set in Iran.
