TEHRAN, Feb. 24 (MNA) — Two Iranian films won prizes at the 13th Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema, which was held in the north central French city from February 13 to 20. “Friday Evening” won the International Jury’s Grand Prize for dealing with a taboo subject with strength and courage. The movie also received the Special favorite Langues ‘O Award of the festival for the tragic dimension of the story. The film, which is Mona Zandi’s directorial debut, is about a woman called Sogand and her son Omid, who are shunned by her family and thus experience hard times.
Zandi received the Special Jury Prize of the International Women’s Film Festival in Cologne last October as well as the Silver Alexander Special Jury Award at the 47th Thessaloniki International Film Festival last November for her 
movie. She had previously won the Best First Film Director Award and the Special Jury Prize in the Iranian Films Section of the 24th Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran in January 2006.
In addition, the Iranian film “Good Night, Commander”, directed by Ensieh Shah-Hosseini, charmed cinemagoers at the Vesoul festival and took the Audience Award. Also known as “Goodbye Life”, the film is about an Iranian woman sent to the front to report on the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. The film received the Special Award of the 12th Cinema Tout Ecran International Festival of Film and Television in Geneva last year.
