‘Exam’ Award-winning Short film by Iranian Filmmaker Sonia K. Hadad; A Teen Gravely Endanger Herself on a Delivery

Sonia K. Hadad’s Exam is 15-minute fiction Iranian short film completed in September 2019. Exam shares a story of a young woman who needs to deliver cocaine to a client, only to gravely endanger herself in the process. This phenomenal short has already won 10 awards including the Grand Jury Prize for Live Action Short at AFI Fest 2019 and the Special Jury Award for Acting at Sundance Film Festival 2020. This film screened at the Oscar-qualifying Florida Film Festival and Odense International Film Festival back in August.

Synopsis: A teenage girl reluctantly agrees to deliver a pack of cocaine on the day of an important test. A series of unforeseen events threaten to derail more than her GPA.

The Official Trailer for “Exam” a short film directed by Sonia K. Hadad, and co-written by Farnoosh Samadi

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Director Sonia K. Hadad is an Iranian writer and director who moved to the U.S. in 2013 for her education, which is where she began making short films, producing for the film industry, and also editing TV series and shorts. Writing short stories for youth magazines is what led Sonia to her main interest in writing for films.

Producer Pouria Heidary Oureh has always been interested in visual, performance arts, and storytelling, especially through drawings. He has worked with several renowned Iranian directors in Iran as well as abroad before moving on to direct his own films.

Co-Producer Chervine Naamani is a Manager/Producer at Rain Management Group in Los Angeles where he represents Actors, Writers, and Directors in Film, Television, and New Media. As a dual French and American citizen of Iranian descent, Chervine has made it his purpose to champion and highlight diverse voices throughout the industry.

Cinematographer Alireza Barazandeh is a well-known Iranian Director of Photography and has been the DP for more than 15 famous feature movies in Iran. He won the Crystal Simorgh from Fajr Film Festival in 2015 for the movie Time To Love and also won the Jury Prize from Iran’s Film and Critics and Writers Association 2016 for the movie Cyanid.

The Exam has already screened at 42 high-profile film festivals including Toronto International Film Festival, Leeds International Film Festival, Tampere Film Festival, and Cleveland International Film Festival and is screened at Florida Film Festival, Odense International Film Festival, and DC Shorts.

The cast of the Exam is Elaheh Afshari, Sadaf Asgari, Masih Kazemi, Hadis Mir-Amini (Teacher), Hootan Parsi (Voice).

The crew of the Exam includes Director Sonia K. Hadad; Producer Three Gardens: Pouria Heidary Oureh; Writers Sonia K. Hadad, Farnoosh Samadi; Director of Photography Alireza Barazandeh; Costume & Set Designer Parisa Farahani; Make-Up Artist Amir Torabi; Sound Recordist Mohammadreza Hosseini; Editor Ehsan Vaseghi; Sound Design Ramin Abousedgh.

Festivals Circuit for the Exam

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• Toronto International Film Festival, Canada (5 – 15 September, 2019)
• Short Cuts
• Fantatic Fest Austin, United States (19 – 26 September, 2019)Official Selection
• El Gouna Film Festival, Egypt (19 – 27 September, 2019)
• Short Film Competition Won: Gold Star for Best Short Film
• Uppsala International Short Film Festival, Sweden (21 – 27 October, 2019)
• International Competition
• Leeds International Film Festival, United Kingdom (6 – 21 November, 2019)
• Competition
• South Western International Film Festival, Canada (7 – 10 November, 2019)
• Competition
• ZINEBI – International Festival of Documentary and Short Film of Bilbao, Spain (8 – 15 November, 2019)
• International Competition
• Tehran International Short Film Festival, Iran (10 – 15 November, 2019)
• National Competition
• AFI Fest, United States (14 – 21 November, 2019)
• Competition Won: Grand Jury Award – Live Action Short
• Whistler Film Festival, Canada (4 – 8 December, 2019)
• International ShortWork Competition
• Afrodite Shorts, Italy (5 December, 2019)
• Best International Short Won: Best International Short Film
• London Short Film Festival, United Kingdom (10 – 19 January, 2020)
• International Competition
• Minimalen Short Film Festival, Norway (21 – 26 January, 2020)
• International Competition
• Prague Short Film Festival, Czech Republic (22 – 26 January, 2019)
• International Competition
• Sundance Film Festival, United States (23 January – 2 February, 2020)
• Short Film Competition Won: Special Jury Award for Acting
• Farjr Festival, Iran (1 – 11 February, 2020)
• Competition
• Final Girls Berlin Film Festival, Germany (6 – 9 February, 2020)
• Official Selection
• Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival, United Kingdom (20 February – 3 March, 2020)
• Short Film Competition
• Omaha Film Festival, United States (3 – 8 March, 2020)
• Official Competition
• Tampere Film Festival, Finland (4 – 8 March, 2020)
• International Competition
• Portland International Film Festival, United States (6 – 15 March, 2020)
• Official Selection
• Filmfest Sundsvall, Sweden (11 – 15 March, 2020)
• International Short Film Competition
• Festival International de Films de Femmes, France (13 – 22 March, 2020)
• International Short Film Competition Won: UPEC Jury Prize For The Best Short Film
• Mecal Pro, Barcelona International Short and Animation Festival, Spain (19 March – 5 April, 2020)
• International Competition
• Women’s Film Festival Brattleboro, United States (20 – 29 March, 2020)
• Official Selection
• Underexposed Film Festival yc, United States (25 – 28 March, 2020)
• Official Selection
• Landshut Short Film Festival, Germany (25 – 30 March, 2020)
• International Competition
• New Directors/New Films, United States (25 March – 5 April, 2020)
• Official Selection
• Cleveland International Film Festival, United States (25 March – 5 April, 2020)
• Short Film Competition
• Annapolis Film Festival, United States (26 – 29 March, 2020)
• Short Film Competition
• Uruguay International Film Festival, Uruguay (8 – 18 April, 2020)
• Competition
• cellu l’art Short Film Festival, Germany (21 – 26 April, 2020)
• International Competition
• Montclair Film Festival, United States (1 – 10 May, 2020)
• Short Film Competition
• Firenze FilmCorti Festival, Italy (5 – 9 May, 2020)
• Competition
• Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival, Turkey (7 – 14 May, 2020)
• Official Selection
• Norwegian Short Film Festival, Norway (10 – 14 June, 2020)
• International Competition Won: Golden Chair for Best International Short Film
• Palm Springs International ShortFest, United States (16 – 22 June, 2020)
• International Competition
• SouthSide Film Festival, United States (16 – 20 June, 2020)
• Competition
• PyeongChang Int’l Peace Film Festival, South-Korea (18 – 23 June, 2020)
• Official Selection
• ShorTS International Film Festival, Italy (4 – 12 July, 2020)
• Maremetraggio Section Special Mention
• Method Film Festival, United States (14 – 20 August, 2020)
• Official Selection
• Social World Film Festival, Italy (25 July – 2 August, 2020)
• Official Selection
• Desertscape International Film Festival, United States (29 July – 1 August, 2020)
• Official Selection
• MoliseCinema Film Festival, Italy (4 – 9 August, 2020)
• International Competition
• International Film Festival of South Asia – Toronto, Canada (6 – 16 August, 2020)
• Official Selection
• Florida Film Festival, United States (7 – 20 August, 2020)
• Official Selection
• DokuFest International Documentary and Short Film Festival, Kosovo (7 – 15 August, 2020)
• International Short Film Competition
• Filmfest Weiterstadt, Germany (12 – 17 August, 2020)
• Official Selection
• Still Voices Short Film festival, Ireland (13 – 16 August, 2020)
• Short Film Competition
• Salute Your Shorts, United States (21 – 29 August, 2020)
• Official Selection
• Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival, Ukraine (22 – 30 August, 2020)
• International Short Film Competition
• OFF – Odense International Film Festival, Denmark (24 – 30 August, 2020)
• Competition
• Kino Otok – Isola Cinema International Film Festival, Slovenia (26 – 30 August, 2020)
• Video on the Beach
• Cisterna Film Festival, Italy (27 – 30 August, 2020)
• Competition
• Festival International du Film de Nancy, France (28 August – 6 September, 2020)
• International Competition
• Filmfest Dresden, Germany (8 – 13 September, 2020)
• International Competition
• Durban International Film Festival, South-Africa (10 – 20 September, 2020)
• Short film competition
• DC Shorts, United States (10 – 23 September, 2020)
• Competition
• Seoul international Extreme-Short Image & Film Festival, South Korea (15 – 20 September, 2020)
• International Competition
• PRINDIE: Princeton Independent Film Festival, United States (18 – 20 September, 2020)
• Competition
• Sehsüchte International Student Film Festival, Germany (23 – 27 September, 2020)
• Short Film Competition
• Figari Film Fest, Italy (23 September – 2 October, 2020)
• Competition

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