The Iranian film “Closed Curtain” has won the top prize for best screenplay at the 63rd Berlin film festival.

The film was co-directed by Kamboziya Partovi and dissident director Jafar Panahi in defiance of a 20-year ban on filmmaking.

The winner of the 2012 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, Panahi has been held under house arrest since December 2010 for allegedly making antigovernment propaganda.

The Berlin Film Festival, also known as the Berlinale, came to an end with a gala ceremony for the presentation of the top awards on February 16.

“Child’s Rose,” a Romanian drama by director Calin Peter Netzer, won the Golden Bear for best picture.

It tells the story of a domineering mother who uses her social position to try and save her son from jail.

Based on reporting by AFP, Reuters, and dpa

By RFE/RL