WINNERS

In a small Iranian town, cinema-crazy nine-year-old Yahya and Leyla eke out a living sorting rubbish. One day they find an Oscar statuette and start their journey to find its rightful owner.
Saturday 25 March Picture House Doors 10:00 AM | Session 10:30 AM | End 12:30 PM
Director: Hassan Nazer | 2022 | Iran | 85 mins | PG | Farsi with subtitles
Followed by Q&A with Nadira Murray (producer) and Saeed Zeydabadi-Nejad (School of African Studies, University of London)

Co-presented by:

In a small provincial Iranian town, the children work hard to support their families by sorting rubbish. One day, nine-year-old Yahya and Leyla find an Oscar statuette. Sharing their passion for cinema, Yahya's boss Naser (Reza Naji) decides to help them find the owner. Iranian-born, Scotland-based filmmaker Hassan Nazer's heart-warming film is a love song to cinema and is the UK submission to the 2023 Oscars for Best International Feature Film.

FILMMAKER: HASSAN NAZER

'Winners is a story of a nine-year-old boy's passion for cinema and the reawakening of an old actor’s love for the medium, a man who has forgotten and buried his identity because of
the hardships of his life.

I wrote the script bearing in mind how films allow us to dare to dream, how cinema is a perfect escape. When I had my synopsis and treatment for Winners, I decided to meet with
Reza Naji himself, my childhood icon. I remember he arrived in worn clothes, looking a little aged, and he immediately took an
expensive looking box from his old bag.

Inside—wrapped in red velvet—was his Berlinale Silver Bear (for Majid Majidi's The Song of Sparrows). The statue was extremely sacred to Mr Reza. He is a very simple artist living a very simple life and often unemployed. He's so caught-up in surviving daily life in Iran, he sometimes forgets his achievements!

Winners is a peaceful offering, a reminder of classical Iranian films and celebration of the work of all Iranian artists as well as world cinema. I wanted to tell a story that's a bridge between my two homes (UK & Iran), that ties cultures peacefully and harmoniously together through universal themes, with a message that hardship can be overcome through hope and dreams.'

PRAISE FOR WINNERS

"Hassan Nazer crafts a passionate, meta tribute to the cinema of his native Iran"  — Fionnuala Halligan, Screen Daily

“An ode to cinema and the joys it brings “ — Anna Smith, Deadline 

“moments of golden-hour joy" — Screen International

WINNER:
Audience Award, Edinburgh International Film Festival (2022)
Best UK Feature, Raindance Film Festival (2022)
BIFA Raindance Discovery Award (2022)
BIFA Breakthrough Producer (2022)
Official UK Entry for Best International Feature, 2023 Academy Awards®