Upon the receipt of an award from the 30th Jerusalem Film Festival, Mohsen Makhmalbaf called on stage Guillaume Nyagatare, one of some fifty gardeners who came to the screening of his latest film, The Gardener. Makhmalbaf dedicated the award to him saying:

“This prize belongs to all the people who struggle for peace between Iran, Israel, and Palestine. I also wish to present this prize to one of the characters in the film, The Gardener, Mr. Gillaum from Rwanda in Africa, the person who lost eight members of his family to the genocides in Rwanda, but managed to overcome hatred and forgive his enemies, even forget their wrongdoings. In the hatred-ridden world in which we live he is a model. He is a person similar to Gandhi and Mandella.”

اين جايزه متعلق است به همه كساني كه در راه صلح بين ايران و اسراييل و فلسطين تلاش مي كنند. هم چنين من مايلم اين جايزه را تقديم كنم به يكي از بازيگران فيلم باغبان آقاي گيوم از كشور رواندا در افريقا. كسي كه هشت نفر از اعضاي خانواده اش را در نسل كشي رواندا از دست داد، اما توانست بر نفرت خود غلبه كند و دشمنانش را ببخشد و حتي گناهشان را فراموش كند. در جهان پر از نفرتي كه ما زندگي مي كنيم او يك الگوست. او كسي شبيه گاندي و ماندلاست.

> Read more on Makhmalbaf’s website