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| Mortician won the Sean Connery Prize Photo: Courtesy of EIFF |
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| Left to right: Mortician producer Mojan Safari, EIFF Producer Emma Boa, Mortician director Abdolreza Kahani, actress Gola, Jason Connery and Mortician actor Nima Sadr Photo: Courtesy of EIFF/Kat Gollock |
Iranian-born Kahani's film concerns a reclusive mortician who faces an unusual request from a dissident singer in hiding. The prize was presented by Jason Connery.
The winner of The Thelma Schoonmaker Prize for Short Filmmaking Excellence Competition was Joanna Vymeris’s Mother Goose. The short film competition winner was also decided on by an audience vote and is awarded £15,000 to support their future projects.
After the death of her husband, Janet decides to distract herself by rearing a goose, which is to be the centrepiece of her Christmas dinner. However, as she grows ever more isolated from her daughter, Janet’s need to nurture the goose becomes an obsession: one which will cost her dearly. The award was presented by Schoonmaker herself.
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| Mother Goose won the short film prize Photo: Courtesy of EIFF |
