Best Film Award Goes to THE DOGS… in Sama IFF

In the Films from Afghanistan section in the 13^th Sama International Film Festival (October 8^th to 9^th, 2022 / Stockholm, Sweden), the Best Film Award was handed to Ramin Rasouli’s THE DOGS DIDN’T SLEEP LAST NIGHT for “The powerful cinematography of Rasouli, together with the quality of the aesthetics and the beauty of the composition, helps the director to portray the resistance of simple people and the grassroots solidarities that help them to survive even when anything else is falling apart. Darkness, desperation, feelings of hatred and resentment are mixed with the need of leaving some space for reconciliation and closure. Although sometimes, as the director seems to imply, you are left alone and there is nothing else to do but close your eyes and ‘shoot’, perhaps a metaphor for the artist himself, who works through his camera and ‘shoots’ at the audience through the powerful scenes of a beautifully dramatic film.”

According to the Jury’s statement, Milad Sadrameli’s TSUNAMI was also the runner up in the International Films section.