Iran’s Int’l FICTS announces winners

The 14th edition of the International FICTS Festival in Iran has come to an end with awarding the winners of different sections in Tehran on Friday.

Iranian feature film ‘Hook’ directed by Hossein Rigi was the big winner of the night, grabbing six awards in the fiction section.

‘Hook’ brought the best film award to its producer Ali Ashtianipour, the best cinematography award to Shahram Najjarian, the award for best score to Fardin Khalatbari.

The award for the best actor in a leading role and the special award for a teenage actor respectively went to Mohsen Ashtianipour and Sobhan Rakhshani, and Rigi received a special prize as the director.

Produced in 2023, ‘Hook’ is about Shir Khan, a boy who embarks on a journey to become a champion in the sport of boxing. However, various challenges and incidents blocks his path to achieving his dream.

The award for best screenplay was presented to ‘Arjun Chakravarthy’ written and directed by Vikrant Rudra from India, and its star Sija Rose received the award for the best actress in a leading role.

‘Arjun Chakravarthy’ chronicles the extraordinary life of a determined kabaddi player who represented India in the 1980s.

The best actor in a supporting role award went to Yerik Zholzhaksynov for ‘The Start’ directed by Yernar Nurgaliyev from Kazakhstan. The film tells the story of two brothers who, after the death of their father, begin to hunt for robberies.

The award for the best actress in a supporting role was given to Pantea Panahiha for ‘Captain’ directed by Mohammad Hamzei from Iran, and Pejman Bazeghi received a special award by the festival secretary for his performance in the film. ‘Captain’ is about an 11-year-old boy who is absolutely convinced that he will soon be playing for the Iran national football team.

‘Desert Lights’ written by Rubens Juárez and directed by Katherina Harder Sacre from Chile won the awards for best short film screenplay and director in the documentary section. The doc takes place in the Atacama Desert in Chile, where Antay and his friends struggle to keep their drought-stricken town afloat.

‘The Wall’ by Evrim Inci from Turkey won the award for the best short film in the Paralympic section. It is a fairy tale documentary about the first female tennis player to represent Turkey in the Olympics, her stance against life, and the sacrifices she has made on the way from her daily life to her sports career.

The awards for best feature documentary director and best feature documentary were respectively presented to Shahram Maslakhi and Hadi Shariati for ‘The Last 5 Minutes’ and ‘Sattar El Classico’, both from Iran.

The award for the best short documentary director was presented to Ehsan Kamarkhani from Iran for ‘Son of Mountain’. The doc deals with a boy who is born with disabilities, however he turns to mountaineering and meets a person in a mountaineering program who changes his life.

The International Sports Film Festival of Iran is the exclusive representative of the Federation Internationale Cinema Television Sportifs (FICTS). The festival is part of the World FICTS Challenge held across 16 countries worldwide.

More than 620 productions, including some 250 works and productions from Iran and about 370 from more than 70 other countries, registered in this year’s edition of the festival.

The festival was held in collaboration with Iran’s National Olympic and Paralympic Committee, the Ministry of Sports and Youth, the IRIB, the Cinema Organization of Iran, and the Tehran Municipality.

The FICTS headquarters is located in Milan, Italy, with more than 134 member countries. The Iranian festival is recognized as one of the 16 global hubs and hosts 34 Asian countries, serving as a gateway for participation in the global festival in Milan.

Winners in each category, including feature films, short films, documentaries, animations, and TV shows, qualify for the Milano International FICTS Fest, which serves as the final phase of the World FICTS Challenge.