Iranian short wins best animation award at US festival
Iranian short animation the Rusty Fish, written and directed by Milad Fathiani, has won the Best Animation award at the 17th IndieFEST Film Awards in the United States, receiving the festival’s gold trophy and certificate, Mehr News Agency reported on Saturday.
The Rusty Fish tells the story of a hunter who recklessly harms nature and other creatures, but ultimately finds that even the smallest part of nature can strike back at him.
The Iranian animation has already received two awards. It was selected by the jury at the Passo San Marco Film Festival in Italy and also won an award at the Asian Independent Film Festival in India.
IndieFEST Film Awards, which has been running for 17 years and is recognized by IMDb, judges independent films in various categories including animation, documentaries, and short and feature films, with a focus on independent cinema from around the world.
It has hosted both Oscar winners and emerging filmmakers as part of its focus on independent cinema.
Festivals recognized by IMDb can carry significant weight in filmmakers’ professional profiles, applications to other festivals and contacts with distributors and producers, particularly for independent animation, whose commercial path differs from that of feature films.