Official Selections and Prizes for Beach Flags

Prizes:

Grand Prize, Tindirindis international Aniamtion Festaival 2015 (Lithuania)

Grand Prize, BIAF Animation Festival 2015 (Korea)

Grand Jury Prize, ANIMA, Córdoba International Animation Festival 2015 (Argentina)

Best Animation Film FIJR Granada 2015 (Espagne)

Best of the Show, The Animation Block Party film festival 2015 (USA)

The AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Prize, Giffoni International Film Festival 2015 (Italy)

Best Short Film, Cortos Por Caracoles Festival 2015 (Spain)

Public Prize, Prinanima, Festival 2014 (Hungary)

Best Film Award, international Animé awards 2015 (Japan)

Ex-Aequo Young Jury award Bruz Film Festival 2014 (France)

The Original Music composition award, Bruz Film Festival 2014(France)

Best Animation Film, Aubagne film festival 2015 (France)

The Jury Prize, International Festival Séquence Court-Métrage 2015 (France)

The Rock award, Asiana Festival 2015 (Korea)

3^rd prize Monstronale Festival 2015 (Gerany)

BCN Sports Film Festival 2015 (Spain)

Best Screenplay, International Animayo Festival 2015 (Spain)

Second Prize, Literally Short Film Awards 2015 (USA)

Best Animation Film, FestiFrance 2015 (Brazil)

Runner Up - Best Short, SPARK Animation Festival 2015 (Canada)

Official selections:
Sundance Film Festival (USA)
Anibar Animation Festival, Literally Short Film Awards (USA)
Monadnock International Film Festival (USA)
The Animation Block Party film festival (USA)
Lunafest (USA)
Milwaukee Film Festival (USA)
New Hampshire Film Festival (USA),
Clermont Ferrand short film festival, National Competition (France)
Premierplans Festival (France)
Aubagne Film Festival (France)
Festival de Films d’Education (France)
Bruz National Film Festival (France)
Festival Plein la Bobine (France)
Chacun son court Festival (France)
Contis International Festival (France)
Festival du film court en plein air de Grenoble (France)
European Festival of short films of Brest (France)
Pre-selection at César Academy for the animation short film category (France)
Festival International du Film d’Aubagne (France)
Festival de Film d’Altkirch (France)
Short Film Festival of Courtivore (France)
International Film Festival of Nancy-Lorraine (France)
Le Temps Presse Festival, Paris (France)
International Festival of Ciné Rencontres de Prades (France)
International Animation Film Festival of «Les Nuits Magiques» (France)
International Festival Séquence Court-Métrage (France)
ASIANA short film festival (Korea)
Anima mundi International Animation Festival (Brazil)
Anima, Brussels Animation Festival (Belguim)
Les Enfants Terribles Film Festival (Belgium)
Flickerfest Festival (Australia)
Cinanima (Portugal)
Gijon Film Festival (Spain)
Cortos de Caracoles Festival (Spain)
BCN Sports Film Festival (Spain)
FIJR Granada –International Short Film Festival (Spain)
Mecal International Short Film and Animation Festival, Barcelona (Spain)
Visual Effects and Video Games Animayo (Spain)
International Panorama of Cartoons on the Bay (Italy)
Medfilm Festival (Italy)
Milano Film Festival (Italy)
Ozu Film Festival (Italy)
Exsport Movies & TV - Milano International Ficts Fest (Italy)
Prinanima Film Festival (Hungary)
Interfilm, Berlin (Germany)
Monstronale Festival (Germany)
OpenEyes Festival (Germany)
KLIK! Amsterdam (Holland)
Expotoons Festival (Argentina)
Leeds International Film Festival (UK)
London Iranian Film Festival (UK)
The festival REGARD sur le court métrage in Saguenay (Canada)
NexT International Film Festival (Romania)
Tokyo Anime Awards Festival TAAF (Japan)
New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival (Japan)
Short Film Festival in Grimstad (Norway)
Countryside Animafest Cyprus – Views of the World (Cyprus)
Manaki Brothers Festival (Macedonia)
International Festival of animated film for youth and children (Serbia)
European Animated Film Festival BALKANIMA (Serbia)
World Festival of Animated Film in Varna (Bulgaria)
CICDAF Festival (China)

Brussels European FICTS Sports Film Festival (Belgium)
NW Animation Fest's 2015 "Best of the Fest"(USA)
ANIMA2015 - VIII Córdoba International Animation Festival (Argentina)
Giffoni International Film Festival (Italy)
Riga International Film festival 2ANNAS (Latvia)
LUCAS International Children's Film Festival, Frankfurt/Main (Germany)
Annual Iranian Film Festival - San Francisco (USA)
International Animation Film Festival of «Animatou» (Belgium)
Tricky Women International Animation Filmfestival Vienna (Austria)
Wiz-Art International Short Film Festival, Lviv (Ukraine)
Anibar International Animation Festival (Albania)
3D wire Festival (Spain)
Cabbagetown Film Festival (Canada)
BANJALUKA Film Festival (Bosnia)
Ajyal Youth Film Festival (Qatar)
International Film Festival “KIN” (Armenia)
FestiFrance (Brazil), SPARK Animation Festival (Canada),
International Animated Film Festival TINDIRINDIS (Lithuania)
Animateka Animation Film Festival (Slovenia)
Athena Film Festival, NY (USA) 
IN THE PALACE Sofia International Short Film Festival (Bulgaria)
International Festival Séquence Court-Métrage (France)
IFEMA International Female Film festival (Sweden)
festival Ciné Poème de Bezons (France)
International Animation Festival « El Ventilador » (Argentina)
Etang d’arts Festival Marseille (France)
la Maremetraggio International Film Festival, à Trieste (Italie)
Euganéa Film festival (Italy)
Heart of Gold International Film Festival (Australia)
Motovun Film Festival (Croatia)
Madrid Film Festival FCM-PNR (Spain)
Women Make Waves International Film Festival, Taipei City (Taiwan)

Beach Flags review

Today I found this really nice review by Joe Bendel on Beach Flags. It is such a joy and it encourages me so much!
http://jbspins.blogspot.com/2015/01/sundance-15-beach-flags-short.html

Sundance ’15: Beach Flags (short)

They might be lifeguards, but their lives are nothing like Baywatch and Vida is not anything like Pam Anderson. For one thing, she happens to be an excellent lifeguard, but because her team is required to wear headscarves in international competitions, she can only participate in one event: her weakest. It is unnecessarily hard to be a young Iranian woman in Sarah Saidan’s terrific animated short film, Beach Flags (trailer here), which screens during the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.

Vida knows she deserves to represent Iran at the Australian meet, because she is the best on her squad, even when it comes to their only allowable event—a race across the beach to capture the flag. She outclasses everyone until the coach brings in the abnormally tall and fleet Sareh. Try as she might, Vida just cannot catch her. Understandably, she resents the newcomer, vibing her hard. However, when she inadvertently spies on Sareh’s home life, Vida’s perspective changes radically. It turns out it is even harder for Sareh to be a young woman in Iran.

Beach Flags says volumes about the state of women’s rights in Iran, beginning with the absurdity of the restrictions placed on the lifeguard squad, but shifting to the profoundly depressing circumstances faced by Sareh. It is a pivot Saidan makes with considerable grace. Yet, even though the film addresses pressing human rights issues, Beach Flags is really a lovely little coming-of-age tale that will leave viewers feeling good—which is quite a trick to pull off.

Saidan’s animation is not as richly detailed as a Studio Ghibli masterwork, but it has an appropriately Persian vibe that transports the audience to the two very different Irans inhabited by the rival team members. It is a powerful piece of storytelling that also happens to be rather timely. Highly recommended, Beach Flags screens again today (1/24) in Salt Lake and Monday (1/26) and next Saturday (1/31) in Park City as part of the Animation Spotlight shorts program at this year’s Sundance.