Filmmaker Mariam Khatchvani takes Iraqi fest principal award

Film director Mariam Khatchvani collected another international prize for her award-winning short film Dinola at the Amarji International Film Festival, as winners of the Iraqi event were revealed on Friday.

Khatchvani's portrayal of the fate of a little girl in Georgia's remote mountainous region Svaneti received the Best Short Film award at the second edition of the festival.

Produced by Tbilisi-based 20 Steps Studio, the short fiction follows the girl, set to be abandoned by her mother after the death of the head of the household.

According to strict customs of the village — with roots in true traditions of the region — the first man to marry a widow has the right to choose to take the woman away and leave her child behind.

Dinola was awarded over a dozen prizes at international festivals since its release in 2014, including the runner-up award as well as prizes for Best Screenplay, Cinematography and Costume Design at the Bueu International Short Film Festival in Spain.

The film also received the top prize in the Short Fiction Competition category at the DaKINO Film Festival in Romania and was the Grimstad Short Film Festival’s jury nominee for the European Film Awards.

The Amarji International Film Festival celebrated its second edition this year. Photo: Amarji Film Festival.

It also screened at the 2014 Grimstad Short Film Festival in Norway, with the jury praising Khatchvani's work a "poetic film that paints a picture saturated with tradition in a moving and personal way".

This year's Amarji International Film Festival hosted around 3,000 visitors from around the world in the Iraqi province of Najaf.

Launched last year, the festival is promoted as one of the largest cinema events in the country.