41st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

The jury awards a Commendation to the film Shab Bekheir Farmandeh (Goodbye Life) for the pacifist message and for the convincing way in which it emphasises the communitary spirit, the power of sacrifice and the love for the strangers, which rest unalterated in the most cruel conditions of war.

Disguised in priest’s clothes, a man after a violent drug transaction lands up in a small, isolated border town. Acting as a priest in the community provokes a struggle in search of his real identity.
The director succeeds convincingly in telling the story as a parable of the recurrent choice in life between good and bad as a conflict between progress and tradition. The composition of music and images leads to an excellent aesthetical experience.