Best Short Film Direction at Yari Sweden for “Bagh-e Bi Bargi” (The Leafless Garden)

The fifteenth edition of the Yari Iranian Film Festival in Sweden presented the Best Short Film Direction award to Ghazaleh Soltani for “Bagh-e Bi Bargi” (The Leafless Garden).
The film “Bagh-e Bi Bargi,” distributed by the Independent Short Film Support Base, tells the story of a family navigating the hustle and bustle of modern-day Tehran in pursuit of their dreams.
The Yari Sweden Festival, held every year by the Yari Charity Association in Sweden, was founded with the goal of supporting underprivileged Iranian children — and all ticket sales revenue from the festival’s screenings goes directly to those children.
It is also worth noting that at this same festival, Ali Zamani Esmaati received the Best Feature Film Direction award for Shiftegi (Infatuation). At the closing ceremony, Masoud Rayegan accepted the award on behalf of Ghazaleh Soltani, and Roya Teymourian accepted on behalf of Ali Zamani Esmaati. This year, the competitive event featured six feature films and thirteen short and documentary films.
“Bagh-e Bi Bargi,” directed by Ghazaleh Soltani, had previously screened at the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival in France, the Short Film Corner at Cannes, the main competition section of the WIZ-ART Festival in Ukraine, the Best Short Films of the World competition at the JAGRAN International Film Festival in India, the International Short Film and Video Festival in Thailand, and the main competition section of the CONCORTO Festival in Italy — and went on to win the Students’ Choice Award at the 37th edition of the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival in France.
The fifteenth Yari Iranian Film Festival, managed by Sheida Shafiei, was held in cooperation with and media support from the Short Film News Base, over October 3rd and 4th, across the two cities of Uppsala and Stockholm, Sweden.