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Iranian director wins top honor at Baku documentary film festival
Iranian filmmaker Ramin Khalighi has won the Best Film Award in the DokuBaku section of the 9th International Documentary Film Festival in Azerbaijan for his film “Downstream Shadows”.
The DokuBaku section showcases rising filmmakers debuting their first or second films, with a focus on innovative and experimental storytelling. According to the festival’s jury, the category aims to discover “new voices and fresh perspectives” in global documentary cinema.
In its statement, the jury praised Downstream Shadows for offering “a profound and precise reflection on the conflict between humans and their surroundings, capturing the struggle for survival with both poetic and documentary sensitivity.” The panel added that Khalighi’s film “explores contemporary challenges of documentary storytelling with remarkable clarity, leaving a lasting impact on both jury and audience.”
Speaking to IRNA, Khalighi described his documentary as an intimate portrayal of a family battling poverty and addiction, who make a living by collecting recyclables. “The story is a journey through hardship and hope, an effort to endure and reach for better days,” he said.
He added that during production, three members of the featured family were admitted to a rehabilitation center for addiction treatment. “After recovery, they returned to society and began a new chapter in their lives,” the filmmaker noted.
Founded in 2017, the DokuBaku International Documentary Film Festival is the first and largest independent event of its kind in Azerbaijan and has become a major platform for documentary exchange in the Caucasus region.
The 9th edition of the festival, held from October 13 to 19 under the theme “HyperMatrix 5D World”, screened works from more than 60 countries at the Nizami Cinema Center in Baku.