Iran Press/Iran news: The curtain felled on the 37th Fajr International Film Festival on Thursday, April 25. Iranian and international officials, dignitaries, filmmakers and guests attended the closing ceremony in Charsou Cineplex on Vahdat Hall.
Iranian Culture Minister Seyyed Abbas Salehi paid a visit to the ceremony and told reporters that the biggest advantage of the annual cinematic event is that it is independent and it has improved each and every year, effectively cementing cultural diplomacy with the rest of the world, Iran Press reported.
Addressing the ceremony, Festival Director Seyyed Reza Mirkarimi said unilateral sanctions imposed, have not only targeted Iran’s economy but its culture as well: Despite these difficulties, we managed to organize the annual cinematic event. The good news is that many international filmmakers, critics, and scholars who love Iranian cinema didn’t leave us alone.
Full Lineup of the awards winners include:
International Competition (Cinema Salvation)
Golden Simorgh for Best Film: A Russian Youth directed by Alexander Zolotukhin, produced by Eduard Pichugin, Alexander Sokurv (Russia)
Silver Simorgh for Best Director: Soroush Sehat for Dance with Me! (Iran)
Silver Simorgh for Best Script: Gernot Kraa, Oliver Haffner for Wackersdorf by Oliver Haffner (Germany)
Silver Simorgh for Best Actress: Martina Apostolova for Irina by Nadejda Koseva (Bulgaria)
Silver Simorgh for Best Actor: Jesper Christensen for Before the Frost by Michael Noer (Denmark)
Diploma of Honor for Best Actor: Ali Mosaffa for Dance with Me by Soroush Sehat (Iran)
Silver Simorgh for Special Jury Prize: Best Costume Design for Spring Sparrow by Jingxiang Li (China)
Silver Simorgh for Best Short Film: Excess Will Save Us by Morgane Dziurla-Petit (Sweden)
International Competition Jury (The Cinema Salvation): Wang Xiaoshuai (China), Mike van Diem (Netherlands), Muzaffer Özdemir (Turkey), Navid Mohammadzadeh (Iran), Labina Mitevska (Macedonia), Peter Fleischmann (Germany), Narges Abyar (Iran)
Fajr International Film Festival 2019
Asian Film Awards
Trophy for Best Asian Film: Without My Friend by Mohammad Ali Talebi (Iran)
Diploma of Honor for Best Asian Film: Rona, Azim’s Mother by Jamshid Mahmoudi (Afghanistan)
Trophy for Best Asian Director: Huo Meng for Crossing the Border (China)
Trophy for Best Short Film: Sacrifice by Mehdi Mahmmad-Nejadian (Iran)
Eastern Vista Jury (Panorama of Films from Asian and Islamic Countries): Khosro Masoumi (Iran), Rusudan Glurjidze (Georgia)
Best First Film Award
Trophy for Best First Feature Film: A Russian Youth by Alexander Zolotukhin (Russia)
First Film Jury: Behrouz Shoeibi (Iran), Ghassan Salhab (Lebanon), Ammar Hadi Al-Arady (Iraq)
Muhammad Al-Ameen Award
Trophy and Diploma of Honor for Muhammad Al-Ameen Award: Hamid by Aijaz Khan (India)
Certificate of Peace
Amina by Iyman Zidan (Syria)
Fajr International Film Festival 2019
International Critics Award
Diploma of Honor to Best Feature Film in Eastern Vista Section: The Announcement by Mahmut Fazil Coskun (Turkey/Bulgaria)
International Critics Jury: Cüneyt Cebenoyan (Turkey), Robert Safarian (Iran), Barbara Lorey (Germany)
Interfaith Award
Diploma of Honor to Rona, Azim’s Mother by Jamshid Mahmoudi (Afghanistan)
Interfaith Competition Jury: Seyyed Mohammad Hossein Navab (Iran), Inês Mendes Gil (Portugal), Douglas P. Fahleson (Scotland)
NETPAC Prize
Narrow Red Line by Farzad Khoshdast (Iran)
NETPAC Jury: Latika Padgaonkar (India), Seyyed Gholamreza Mousavi (Iran), Aijaz Gul (Pakistan)
Established in 1982, the Fajr International Film Festival celebrates cultural exchange, displays creative achievements of highly acclaimed cineastes and pays tribute to local and international films.
Since its establishment, the Fajr International Film Festival has played a vital role in the development of Iranian Cinema.
Supervised by Iran’s Ministry of Culture, the festival hosts veteran directors and new filmmakers from Iran and across the world every year.
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