TEHRAN -- Iranian documentary A Fox Under a Pink Moon, directed by Mehrdad Oskouei and Soraya Akhalaghi, has won the Best Documentary award at the Periferias International Film Festival in Portugal, adding another international accolade to a remarkable festival run.
The award comes after the film won the IDFA Award for Best Film in the International Competition at the 2025 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, where it had its world premiere. It has since continued to attract recognition at major documentary festivals internationally.
The film, whose original title is Roobah Va Mah Soorati and whose internationally used English title is A Fox Under a Pink Moon, follows Soraya, a 16-year-old Afghan artist who has spent years trying to leave Iran and reunite with her mother in Austria. 
Through drawings, sculpture and self-recorded footage, she documents her attempts to escape and the violence and uncertainty surrounding her life.
Oskouei directed the film remotely, while Soraya filmed herself over a period of five years using her mobile phone. The footage is interwoven with her drawings and surreal animations, creating a hybrid visual language that turns the documentary into an intimate self-portrait. IDFA describes Soraya as the film’s co-director and cinematographer, alongside Oskouei.
The film’s international recognition has been closely tied to its distinctive method of production. Rather than observing its central character from the outside, Oskouei built the film around material recorded by Soraya herself, allowing her to shape both the images and
 the narrative of her experience.
The film was produced by Oskouei Films, with Siavash Jamali, Tony Tabatznik, Rebecca Lichtenfeld and Chandra Jessee among its executive producers. Its international sales are handled by French company CAT&Docs, which also represented the film at IDFA.
A Fox Under a Pink Moon runs for 76 minutes according to IDFA and is in Persian, Dari and Turkish. International festival listings have also described it as a documentary incorporating animation and experimental elements.
Its festival trajectory has continued well beyond its IDFA triumph. It has screened at international documentary events including FIPADOC, DOCVILLE and the Sydney Film Festival, where it was presented in the International Documentaries section.
The film’s creative team includes cinematographer Soraya Akhlaghi, editor Amir Adibparvar, animation director Muhammad Lotfali, composer Afshin Azizi and sound designer and mixer Hussein Ghoorchian. The screenplay is credited to Oskouei and Adibparvar