Ava (2017 Iranian film)

Ava is a 2017 internationally co-produced drama film directed and written by Sadaf Foroughi.[1] It was screened in the Discovery section at the 42nd Toronto International Film Festival,[2] where it won the FIPRESCI Discovery Prize[3] and received an Honourable Mention for Best Canadian First Feature Film.

Ava
Film poster
Directed bySadaf Foroughi
Produced by
Written bySadaf Foroughi
StarringMahour Jabbari
CinematographySina Kermanizadeh
Edited byKiarash Anvari
Production
company
Sweet Delight Pictures
Release date
  • 8 September 2017 (2017-09-08) (TIFF)
Running time
102 minutes
Country
  • Iran
  • Canada
  • Qatar
LanguagePersian

In December, TIFF named the film on its annual Canada's Top Ten list of the ten best Canadian films.[4]

The film received eight Canadian Screen Award nominations at the 6th Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Foroughi), Best Actress (Mahour Jabbari) and Best Supporting Actress (Bahar Noohian).[5] It was named as the winner of the Canadian Screen Award for Best First Feature on 31 January 2018.[6]

Plot

Ava is a student at an all-girl Iranian high school. She's an excellent student and good musician. But her mother hears a rumor that Ava has been seen with a boy, she overreacts and humiliates Ava. Her father is more supportive, but he often works out of the city. Her school's headmaster talks a lot about protecting her students, but she's clearly more concerned with the reputation of her school than the best interests of the girls in the school, and on several occasions threatens to expel Ava and other girls, often on the basis of unfounded rumors; she also cajoles students to snitch on each other.

Cast
  • Mahour Jabbari as Ava
  • Vahid Aghapoor as Father
  • Parnian Akhtari as Anahita
  • Sarah Alimoradi as Shirin
  • Mona Ghiasi as Yasi
  • Houman Hoursan as Nima
  • Bahar Noohian as Mother
  • Leili Rashidi as Ms. Dehkhoda
  • Shayesteh Sajadi as Melody

Reception

Critical reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 96%, based on 23 reviews, and an average rating of 7.45/10.[7]

Accolades
Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref(s)
Asia Pacific Screen Awards 29 November 2018 Best Youth Feature Film Kiarash Anvari, Sadaf Foroughi Nominated [8]
Canadian Screen Awards 11 March 2018 Best Motion Picture Nominated [9][10]
Best Director Sadaf Foroughi Nominated
Best Original Screenplay Nominated
Best Actress Mahour Jabbari Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Bahar Noohian Won
Best Cinematography Sina Kermanizadeh Nominated
Best Art Direction / Production Design Siamak Karinejad Nominated
Best Editing Kiarash Anvari Nominated
Best First Feature Sadaf Foroughi Won [6]
Directors Guild of Canada 2017 DGC Discovery Award Nominated [11]
Toronto International Film Festival 7 – 17 September 2017 Best Canadian First Film Honourable Mention Won [12]
FIPRESCI Discovery Prize Won

References
  1. Vivarelli, Nick (22 May 2017). "More Than Half of Doha Film Institute's New Grants Go to Women Arab Auteurs". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  2. Pond, Steve (22 August 2017). "Toronto Film Festival Adds International Films, Talks With Angelina Jolie and Javier Bardem". TheWrap. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  3. Vlessing, Etan (17 September 2017). "Toronto: 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri' Captures Audience Award". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  4. Wilner, Norman (6 December 2017). "Canada's Top Ten has some glaring omissions". Now. NOW Communications. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  5. CBC News (16 January 2018). "Canadian Screen Awards 2018: Anne has leading 13 nominations". CBC News. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  6. The Canadian Press (31 January 2018). "Sadaf Foroughi's 'Ava' wins best first feature film from Canadian Screen Awards". National Post. Postmedia Network. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  7. "Ava (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  8. "2018 APSA nominees announced". Asia Pacific Screen Awards. 17 October 2018. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  9. "Film Nominees". Academy.ca. Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  10. Ahearn, Victoria (11 March 2018). "'The Breadwinner' among early Canadian Screen Awards winners". National Post. Postmedia Network. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  11. Barry Hertz, "Directors Guild of Canada reveals long list for Discovery Award". The Globe and Mail, September 5, 2017.
  12. "FIPRESCI Discovery Prize for Foroughi Film". Financial Tribune. 19 September 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
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