Iran's Milani To Judge In Baku Film Festival

Tehran, Nov 28, IRNA -- Acclaimed female Iranian filmmaker and screenwriter Tahmineh Milani has been selected to judge at the 2012 Baku International Film Festival in Azerbaijan. Milani is slated to serve as a member of the festival’s jury along with other members invited from different countries. The event’s organizers, for the first time, has invited five prominent female directors from Poland, Turkey, Iran, Russia and Czech Republic to attend the festival scheduled to kick off on November 27, 2012. Milani recently attended the 2012 edition of Izmir International Film Festival in Turkey where a retrospective of her works was screened. She is planning to make a war movie about Iran’s sacred defense against Iraq's invasion in 1980s. Born in 1960 in Tabriz, Milani usually adopts melodramatic style in her productions and focuses on gender issues, where the feminine characters become the subject of intense oppression and discrimination. As one of Iran's most talented female directors, screenwriters and producers, Milani has swept numerous awards in international film festivals. She won the awards for Best director, Best film and Best screenplay at the 51st Asia Pacific Film Festival for her Unwanted Woman in 2006. She has also received the Grand Prix 'Cinéma Tout Ecran', Geneva Cinema Tout Ecran for The Fifth Reaction in 2003 and the Best Artistic Contribution prize of the 25th Cairo International Film Festival for The Hidden Half in 2001. Milani's latest production One of We Two was screened at the 34th edition of Mill Valley International Film Festival (MVFF) in the US in October, 2012. Children of Divorce (1989) and Two Women (1999), are also among Milani's better-known works./end