Hafez Awards in Iran announces winners

The 17th Hafez Awards in Tehran, Iran, has announced winners in respective categories, with ‘The Salesman’ winning best film.

Asghar Farhadi’s Oscar-winning drama ‘The Salesman’ was crowned best film on Saturday at Tehran’s 17th Hafez Awards, Iran’s first and only private awards event in the film industry and TV productions.

The award for best director went to Mohammad-Hossein Mahdavian for his acclaimed political drama ‘The Midday Event’.

Three actors received awards in the best actor category. The recipients were Javad Ezzati for ‘The Midday Event’, Shahab Hosseini for ‘The Salesman’, and Navid Mohammadzadeh for ‘Lanturi’.

Two awards were presented in the best actress category. Fatemeh Motamed-Arya for ‘Abajan’ and Elnaz Shakerdoost for ‘Mobarak’ received the awards.

Winners at the event also paid respects to Ali Moallem, the founder of the awards who died of a heart attack in March.

Event organizers developed a new prize in memory of Moallem this year, which is presented to a person representing an outstanding national achievement.

This year’s recipient of the prize went to Asghar Farhadi, who addressed the audience through a video at the ceremony.

Meanwhile, the award for best screenwriter went to director/actor Reza Attaran for his comedy film ‘Dracula’.

An additional award in the best screenwriter category went to director/writer Narges Abyar for her drama ‘Breath’.

The lifetime achievement award went to Mohammad-Ali Keshavarz, the 87-year-old star of many memorable movies, including ‘Mother’.

The special jury award went to Actor Mohammadreza Golzar for his role in Iranian director Qorban Mohammadpur’s melodrama ‘Salam Mumbai’.

The best documentary award went to ‘The Invincible Diplomacy of Mr. Naderi’, directed by Behtash Sanaei.

The Abbas Kiarostami award, which is given to an outstanding filmmaker, was presented to director Reza Dormishian.

In the TV production category, ‘The Licentiates’ was picked as best series, with co-writers Sorush Sehat and Iman Safai receiving the best screenwriter award for the serial.

Meanwhile, Ehsan Alikhani won the best host award for his talk show ‘Mahe Asal’, which is broadcast every year during the holy month of Ramadan.

The 17th Hafez Award was held at the Grand Hall of the Interior Ministry in the Iranian capital city of Tehran on Saturday.

AI/MMF