John Cassavetes Award given to the best feature made for under $1,000,000; award given to the writer, director and producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.

Credits

Writer/Director: Babak Jalali

Writer: Carolina Cavalli

Producers: Rachael Fung, Chris Martin, Marjaneh Moghimi, George Rush, Sudnya Shroff, Laura Wagner

Synopsis

Donya, a former Afghan translator for the U.S. government, lives alone in Fremont, California. When she’s promoted to writing the fortunes at her job at a fortune cookie factory in the city, Donya’s loneliness and longing drive her to send a message out in a cookie, unsure where it may lead.