Mumbai:‘Valley of Saints‘ directed by Musa Syeed will compete in the Narrative Feature section of the 55th San Francisco International Film Festival next month.

The festival being held from 19 April to 3 May has selected 11 feature films by first-time directors to compete for the New Director’s award comprising cash prize of $15,000.

‘Valley of Saints‘ is the story of Gulzar who plans to run away from the war and poverty surrounding his village in Kashmir with his best friend, but a beautiful young woman researching the dying lake leads him to contemplate a different future. The film features Gulzar Ahmad Bhat, Mohammeds Afzal Sofi and Neelofar Hamid.

The film recently won the World Cinema Audience Award - Dramatic - at the Sundance Film Festival 2012.