An Afghan movie "A Letter To The President" has been nominated for the Opera Prima Award at the 70th Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland.
A Letter To The President, directed by Roya Sadat, is the only eligible film from Afghanistan. And it will be amongst 22 other films from all over the world which will be competing for the Opera Prima Award/First Features, in the festival.
"This film has a lot to say. Social contradictions, challenges and differences have been portrayed in this film through a family life," Sadat said. "This is the first ever long film which all its crew are from Afghanistan. All its activities were done in the country, except one or two technical things which were not available here," she added.
Starring Leena Alam, the move is written by Aziz Delidaar, produced by Roya Film House and co-produced by Kaboora Production.
The movie is about the miseries suffered by women in Afghanistan as well as about discrimination and violence against women in the country.
Aside from its first world premiere and nomination in the festival, the film will also be screening at the Open Doors alongside other Afghan films in the Asian cinema section.
Locarno is considered one of the four most prestigious film festivals alongside Venice, Cannes, and Berlin. Which will have as much as 8000 spectators, gathered in Piazza Grande for the per film screenings.
The festival will be held from August 2-12 in Locarno- Swiss.
Afghan artists said the cinema in Afghanistan is faced with many hurdles.
"This is another step that an Afghan woman makes a film and introduces it to an international festival. I hope it will have good achievement in the festival," said Wali Talash, an artist.