Iranian director Majid Majidi's film Midday Meal won the Busan Award for best film at the 31st Busan International Film Festival in South Korea on Thursday.
The award was announced at the closing ceremony at the Busan Cinema Center in Haeundae-gu, Busan, according to The Korea Herald. The film beat 12 other Asian titles, making 13 films in the competition.
The seven-member jury was led by Chinese director Zhang Yimou. The Hollywood Reporter said the decision was unanimous, and the South Korean government's official website, Korea.net, said the same.
In its reasoning, the jury said the film confronts the human conscience at the point where the need for survival meets the right to education, according to Korea.net. It described Majidi's direction as warm yet uncompromising.
Midday Meal is a drama about a teacher in a poor Iranian village who turns to smuggling to keep his school going, according to the Express Tribune. The Korea Herald described the teacher as a struggling figure trying to feed his pupils.
The Hollywood Reporter said the cast is entirely non-professional, found through street casting, and that the film was shot in Iran's so-called "Martian Mountains".
Under new rules of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the winner becomes eligible for submission in the best international feature category. The Express Tribune said Busan is one of six festivals on the list that grants immediate eligibility.
Other prizes were also announced, according to The Korea Herald and The Hollywood Reporter. Lee Yun Chan of Taiwan won best director for To Be Ordinary, and Zhou Xun and Himeno Kashun shared the best actor award.
The special jury prize went to Ibuku, directed by Eddie Cahyono, a film listed as an Indonesia-Japan production.
Majidi said he was pleased to receive the honour on his first attendance at the festival, according to Korea.net. The Korea Herald and Korea.net both said it was his first visit to Korea.
In his acceptance speech, Majidi dedicated the prize to the people of Iran. In the Korea.net translation, he said: "I dedicate this award to all the brave Iranian heroes who even now stand up to and resist oppression." The outlets translated the speech slightly differently.
The Korea Herald said he spoke of Iranians standing firm through the horrors of war and voiced hope for a world without war. It said it could not confirm these were his exact words.
The Hollywood Reporter said Majidi used part of his speech to condemn the civilian toll of the conflict between Iran and the United States. The Express Tribune said he praised Iranians for not giving up despite the conflict, sanctions and a lack of access to medicine. These are the views of Majidi as reported by the outlets.
Speaking through an interpreter, Majidi also credited his late mother, according to the Express Tribune. He said the win was thanks to the love and energy she gave him before she died a few months before filming began.
The Hollywood Reporter said Majidi told a press conference earlier in the festival that he nearly declined the invitation. It said he felt depressed and exhausted by the situation at home.
He went, he said, because the trip let him send "some kind of small message from my people to the people of other nations and other places", according to the same report. No response from Iranian officials to the award had been reported.
Majidi is an Iranian director who made his debut with the feature Baduk in 1992, according to Korea.net. It was invited to the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes film festival.
His film Children of Heaven, released in 1997, was the first Iranian film nominated for an Oscar in what is now the best international feature category, according to The Korea Herald, The Hollywood Reporter and Korea.net.
The Hollywood Reporter listed his earlier festival-winning films as including The Color of Paradise, from 1999, and Baran, from 2001.
The Busan International Film Festival is described by the Express Tribune as Asia's biggest film festival. It runs for 10 days.
Korea.net said the festival was upgraded to "A-list" status last month by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations, known as FIAPF, which is based in Belgium.
The Korea Herald said the festival drew its biggest crowds in 11 years.
Winning the top prize at one of the six listed festivals, which include Busan, Cannes and Berlin, now makes a film immediately eligible for the best international feature category. The Express Tribune said a long list of submissions is then cut to five nominees.
Midday Meal is now eligible for submission to next year's Oscars. Iran's official submission is chosen through a separate process, and no reporting on that choice was found.
