On the final evening of Perspektive Deutsches Kino at 2019 Berlin International Film Festival, the Compass-Perspektive-Award 2019 for the best film was presented to the film Born in Evin by Maryam Zaree. The award is endowed with prize money, and as a trophy, the director received a real compass, which is intended to serve as symbolic orientation and show her the direction to take going into the future.

The jury statement for Born in Evin: “In Born in Evin, Maryam Zaree takes us along on a search for her own past, in a gruesome chapter of Iranian history. Resolute and sincere, brave and moving, the filmmaker relentlessly hunts for answers to unasked questions, in the process drawing us ever-deeper into her story and to a collective blind spot. She takes a stand, undaunted, and assumes responsibility for breaking the silence for an entire generation.”