Ammar Film Festival wraps up in Tehran

Tehran’s Felestin Cinema has hosted closing ceremony of the 13th Ammar International Popular Film Festival.

The ward for the best film at the gala went to ‘The Guard’, a telefilm on people’s social and political rights.

Directed by Hamid Bayat, the film revolves around the problems coming after a security guard decides to declare his candidacy for membership in the city council at a funfair.

‘Asma’, directed by Mostafa Aqmohammadlou, was picked as the best short film.

It tells the story of a renowned nurse who makes sacrifices to bring a newborn back to life.

No winner was announced in the TV series category, while ‘Mr. Judge’ by Sajjad Mehregan received an honorable mention.

This series portrays some true legal cases on public issues fictionalized by 12 young screenwriters.    

‘New Jersey’ by Ali Zoheiri won the Lantern for the best documentary.

Several other films were also awarded in the sideline section of the festival, which also paid tribute to its former president, Nader Talebzadeh, who died in April 2022.

“Haji Nader was the sole person I knew in my life, whose behavior was more eloquent than his words,” new festival president Edgardo Robin, who is an Argentinean Muslim cleric, said in a short speech after calling Talebzadeh his “spiritual father”.

He also described Talebzadeh as a “charismatic figure” who could even attract people, which were against him ideologically. 

The festival also honored filmmaker Jamal Shourjeh, who is suffering from a brain disease.

“I was once one of Mr. Shourjeh’s disciples. When he was working I was his second assistant, and aside from filmmaking, I was learning lessons on faith, morality, and sacrifice from him,” said Cinema Organization of Iran director Mohammad Khazaee.

“We pray for his health and hope he would return to work; he is a role model for those in younger generation, who are working in the revolution’s cinema,” he added.

Sitting in his wheelchair, Shourjeh thanked the organizers and said, “I hope the festival would take in all the world, and Iranian cinema would enjoy a lofty international status so that other countries envy us.” 

Shourjeh is most famous for his movies on the 1980-1988 Iraq-Iran war, however, he was selected for his collaboration as an assistant director in ‘The Men of Angelos’ and ‘Prophet Joseph’.

The Ammar festival was established in 2010 by a number of Iranian revolutionary figures to honor film and art products promoting topics such as resistance, and revolution. It was named after Ammar Yasir, a close companion of the Prophet Muhammad [PBUH].

MG/MG