It is the turn of the Cinema for Human Rights Award and the Students’ Award - Universities of Trento, Bolzano and Innsbruck

Published 01/05/2024

Marjan Khosravi Baledi’s “Mrs. Iran’s Husband” and Surya Shahi’s “Wheels On The Bus” will receive the awards at 2.45 pm in Auditorium 2 of Cinema Modena


On Wednesday 1 May a further two of the fifteen special awards offered by associations or Festival partner organisations and assigned by independent juries will be presented. The prizes will be awarded at the screening of the winning film, directly in the auditorium.

The Cinema for Human Rights Award is a joint initiative of the Fondazione Campana dei Caduti and the Forum Trentino per la Pace e i Diritti Umani, with the scope of promoting the work that best communicates the underlying values of the two institutions and raises public awareness about issues related to human rights, peace, sustainability, and awareness and dialogue between peoples and cultures. At this 72nd edition of Trento Film Festival it has been awarded to Mrs. Iran’s Husband by Marjan Khosravi Baledi (Iran/2023/27′). “For its ability to deal with the subject of gender discrimination with toughness, but honesty and correctness, in a society still marked by patriarchal aspects, exploring the complexity of a reality too often simplified by our media. For its intelligence in dealing with the cultural change underway in Iran with sensitivity, through language and settings. For the sense of hope it transmits, highlighting the different attitudes characterising two women belonging to different generations”: this was the motivation of the jury, made up of Katia Malatesta, Marco Marsilli, Morena Berti and Riccardo Santoni.

The Students’ Award – Universities of Trento, Bolzano and Innsbruck, established by Trento, Bolzano and Innsbruck Universities and awarded to a work of particular cultural value made by a director under the age of 33, goes to Wheels On The Bus by Surya Shahi (Nepal/2022/15′). The jury, made up of Giovanni De Fazio, Matilde Calabri and Erika Luraschi (UniTn), Tino-Roberto Bros, Daniel Walcher and Matilde Baldassari (UniBz), and Andreas Steuxner, Sasa Tomincic and Lena Westreicher (UniInnsbruck) – gave its motivation as follows: “for the clear and engrossing exploration of delicate issues with which the director succeeds in immersing the viewer in the story. The jury wishes to reward the sensitivity and carefully chosen imagery. The framing, sound and editing choices have contributed to creating a story with characters marked by their narrative depth, while maintaining a balance between profundity and levity.” Special mention has also been given to Piblokto by Anastasia Shubina and Timofey Glinin (USA, Russian Federation/2023/38′).

Both prizes will be awarded in Auditorium 2 of Cinema Modena at 2.45 pm.