The first day film, Lotus Masoud’s debut work, wins two prizes for best short film and direction at a Prague Film Festival

Prague-Sana

The Syrian film “The First Day” by young director Lotus Masoud won the Best Short Film and Best Direction Awards at the Prague Independent International Film Festival.

And “The First Day” is the only Arab film that won awards within the festival. It was produced by the General Film Organization as part of the project to support youth cinema. Lotus wrote and directed it as her first directorial experience with the seventh art after two experiences in writing a play.

The film talks about the day the terrorist bombs stopped falling on Damascus on May 22, 2018, following the purification of the Damascus countryside of terrorists, as it sheds light on this day through more than one case, showing the suffering of the Syrians for many years of the death that these shells carried to many lives.

In a statement to SANA, Lotus said: “This award, which comes as the culmination of my first directorial experiences, gave me great motivation and a deep belief that it was not a risk but a correct and bold step for me and the team who believed in the film and wanted to communicate part of what the Syrian people lived through the harsh years of war in a way. Humani “expresses her happiness the moment she heard the news of the award and felt very happy that a Syrian film wins two awards and competes with foreign films from all countries of the world.

"This award gave me enthusiasm to go into new experiences that come in combining writing and directing," Lotus added, stressing the importance of Syrians ’voices reaching the world, specifically those who did not really reach what they suffered psychologically and socially as a result of the war on it through the language of cinema.

She donated the award to her family, who was the main reason for embracing and supporting her talent.

The film is represented by Loris Qazak, Iyad Issa, Amina Abbas, Hassan Khalil, Aya Mahmoud, Molhim Bishr, Alaa Zahr El Din, Randa Kroshan and Al Ward Damqusi.

Rasha Mahfoud