World War II drama wins best film award at Fajr festival

 

Directed by Ali Ghaffari, “The Restitution” traces the events that led to the Allied occupation of Iran during World War II.

 

Producer Mohsen Ali-Akbari received the award during the closing ceremony of the event at Tehran’s Milad Tower on Sunday evening.

 

The film also brought a Crystal Simorgh for best actor to Hamid Farrokhnejad, who lamented about his misfortune in previous editions of the festival.

 

“Finally, luck helped me out,” Farrokhnejad said in his acceptance speech.

 

“I thank all my dear friends, who helped me to be here,” he added.

 

The Crystal Simorgh for best director went to Parviz Shahbazian for “Darband”, about the student life in Tehran.

 

Pegah Ahangarani won the Crystal Simorgh for best supporting actress for her role in the film.

 

Hanieh Tavassoli received the Crystal Simorgh for best actress for her role in “The Vestibule”, a family drama that is actor Behruz Shoeibi’s directorial debut.

 

The Crystal Simorgh for best supporting actor was presented to comedian Rambod Javan for his portrayal of a serious character in “The Sinners”, a family drama by actor/director Faramarz Qaribian.

 

Director/writer Behnam Behzadi was presented with the Crystal Simorgh for best script for “The Rule of Accident”, a family drama which previously won the Crystal Simorgh for best film in the international section of the festival. 

 

Behzadi presented his award to his parents, who attended the ceremony and planted kisses on their hands after receiving the award.

 

Director Alireza Davudnejad, whose family always forms most of the members of his films’ casts, won the special jury award for “Acting Class”.

 

Host Mohammadreza Shahidifar called his family members to the stage and Davudnejad presented the award to his daughter Zahra.

 

The Crystal Simorgh for Audience Favorite Film was shared by “Hush… Girls Don’t Scream”, Puran Derakhshandeh’s social drama on the problems of Iranian girls, and “Painting Pool”, Maziar Miri’s family drama about physically challenged parents who face a problem with their only son.

 

Following is the list of other winners:

 

Best editor: Bahram Dehqan for “The Restitution” and “Shallow Yellow Sky”

 

Best cinematographer: Hooman Behmanesh for “Darband”

 

Best composer: Hamed Sabet for “Berlin -7”

 

Best makeup artist: Amir Eskandari for “Scandal”

 

Best sound effects: Mohammadreza Delpak for “Berlin -7”

 

Best sound recorder: Yadollah Najafi and Rashid Daneshmand for “The Rule of Accident”

 

Best costume and stage designer: Atusa Qalamfarsaii for “Painting Pool”

 

Best first film director: Hadi Moqaddamdust Hadi Moqafor “The Mysterious”

 

Best Special Effects Artist: Behnam Khaksar for “The Desert Eagle”

 

Awards change

 

This year, organizers awarded the newly-designed Crystal Simorghs, which were made in Bohemia, a major center for crystal and glass objects in the Czech Republic.

 

Moqaddamdust’s Crystal Simorgh broke after it collided with a chair during the award presentation ceremony. The new shape of the award had previously been criticized for its fragility.

 

The previous Crystal Simorgh, which had also been made in the Czech Republic, was less vulnerable to breakage. It was a flat rectangular-shaped crystal plate bearing an engraving of a simorgh.

 

This year, the organizer made changes in the prizes, which were previously presented along with the Crystal Simorghs. They used to award the winners brands of cars manufactured by some Iranian companies. However, due to a rise in prices of all brands of cars in Iran, the prizes were changed from cars to cash ranging from 150,000,000 rials (over $3900) to 300,000,000 rials (over $7800).

  

MMS/YAW

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