04/05/2017 - Petar Valchanov and Kristina Grozeva’s Glory won Best Actor and Actress at the 35th edition of Iran's biggest festival

The Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran, Iran's biggest film event, held its 35th edition from 21-28 April. The main award, the Golden Simorgh for Best Film, went to local filmmaker Asghar Yousefinejad for the film The Home, which also scooped Best Script and the NETPAC Prize.

The Bulgarian film Glory [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Petar Valchanov
interview: Petar Valchanov, Kristina G…
film profile] by Petar Valchanov and Kristina Grozeva picked up Best Actor for Stefan Denolyubov and Best Actress for Margita Gosheva. 

Colombia's Ivan D Gaona took home the Best Director Award for Guilty Men, and the Special Jury Prize for Best Artistic Contribution went to DoP Zhu Jinjing and art director Wang Tou for their work on the Chinese title Mr. No Problem by Mei Feng.

The main jury consisted of filmmakers Jessica Woodworth (Belgium), Uberto Pasolini (Italy), Lech Majewski (Poland), Florian Gallenberger (Germany) and Rasoul Sadrameli (Iran), and actresses Mieko Harada (Japan) and Fatameh Motamedarya (Iran).

In the Asian Film Awards section, Returnee by Kazakh filmmaker Sabit Kurmanbekov won Best Film. 

In its second year under its current festival director, acclaimed filmmaker Reza Mirkarimi (Daughter, Today), the Fajr IFF presented more than 140 films across nine sections, including focus programmes on the Baltics and South Korea. The festival also included a Talent Campus with participants from all over the world, a market with buyers and sellers from the Middle East and Asia – but also Europe – and an extensive tribute to Iran's greatest filmmaker, Abbas Kiarostami, who passed away last year, featuring exhibitions and discussions with his closest collaborators. Read more about the festival in our upcoming interview with Mirkarimi.

Here is the full list of award winners:

International Competition

Best Film
The Home – Asghar Yousefinejad (Iran) 

Best Director
Ivan D Gaona – Guilty Men (Colombia)

Best Script
Asghar Yousefinejad – The Home

Best Actor
Stefan Denolyubov – Glory [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Petar Valchanov
interview: Petar Valchanov, Kristina G…
film profile] (Bulgaria/Greece)

Best Actress
Margita Gosheva – Glory

Special Jury Prize (for Best Artistic Contribution)
Zhu Jinjing (cinematography) and Wang Tou (art direction) – Mr. No Problem (China)

Best Short Film
Online Shopping – Ghasideh Golmakani (Iran)

Muhammad Al-Ameen Prize
Babaei – Mozaffar Hosseinkhani Hezaveh(Iran)

Interfaith Prize
Knife in the Clear Water – Wang Xuebo (China) 

NETPAC Prize
The Home – Asghar Yousefinejad 

Asian Film Awards

Best Asian Film
Returnee – Sabit Kurmanbekov (Kazakhstan) 

Best Asian Short Film
Not Yet – Arian Vazirdaftari (Iran)

Best Asian Director
Shahrbanoo Sadat – Wolf and Sheep [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Shahrbanoo Sadat
film profile] (Denmark/Sweden France)