Iranian director Kaveh Mazaheri’s Botox has won Best Film award at the just concluded 38th Turin Film Festival. Botox is a touching study of two sisters living in the desolate outskirts of Tehran. Akram and Azar are bullied and marginalised by a society that makes no bones about men holding all the cards and considers alluding to this fact an act of dissent. Botox is independent Iranian cinema at its finest.

The Special Jury Award went to Identifying Features by Mexican director Fernanda Valadez. Dealing with the burning issue of migrants disappearing on their way to the US, the story follows a mother across Mexico as she searches for her son. A brilliant, distinctive and captivating movie which encapsulates a real-world humanitarian crisis.

A Special Mention went to This is My Desire, the first feature by Nigerian brothers Arie and Chuko Esir. Two separate stories of working-class individuals struggling to make ends meet who share an aspiration to leave Nigeria in search of a better life. Harsh, yet affectionate and heart-warming — a quietly effective and deeply empathetic movie.