Fajr Festival biggest winners over the years

As we approach the 37th annual Fajr Film Festival, we’ve compiled a list of some of the festival’s record-holders for the most Crystal Simorghs received in different categories of the film festival over the years.

The record for the most Crystal Simorghs in one category is held by sound mixer Mohammad Reza Delpak with nine Crystal Simorghs for Best Sound Effects.

The most overall Crystal Simorghs is held by none other than Iranian cinema titan Ebrahim Hatamikia with ten Crystal Simorghs, five of which are in the Best Director and Best Screenplay categories along with another five in the Best Film category, crowning him Iran’s most esteemed filmmaker.

Best Film:

Ebrahim Hatamikia has taken home the Crystal Simorgh for Best Film five times for his films: ‘From Karkheh to Rhine’, ‘The Purple’, ‘In the Name of My Father’, ‘Che (Chamran)’, and ‘The Glass Agency’

Best Director:

Majid Majidi has received four Crystal Simorghs so far for his films ‘The Song of Sparrows’, ‘Children of Heaven’, ‘Rain’, and ‘The Willow Tree’.

Best Screenplay:

Kambuzia Partovi is a four-time Crystal Simorgh winner in the Best Screenplay category for his films ‘I’m Taraneh, 15’, ‘Transit Café’, ‘Runaway’, and ‘Truck’.

Best Sound Effects:

As mentioned earlier, the record for most Crystal Simorghs in one category is held by Mohammad-Reza Delpak in the Best Sound Effects category for his work in ‘Travel to Tomorrow’, ‘The Color of Paradise’, ‘Lantouri’, ‘Birth of a Butterfly’, ‘Bear’, ‘Rules of the Game’, ‘Time is up’, ‘Rain’, and ‘About Eli’

Best Actor:

Parviz Parastoui holds the record for the most Cyrstal Simorghs for Best Actor for his performances in ‘The Glass Agency’, ‘The Willow Tree’, 'In the Name of My Father', and ‘Bodyguard’.

Best Actress:

The number of Crystal Simorghs held for this award is being shared by Hediyeh Tehrani (‘Fireworks Wednesday’ and ‘Red’), Parvaneh Masoumi (‘Robab’s Dowry’ and ‘The Glory of Life’), Fatemeh Motamed-Arya (‘Spouse’ and ‘Passengers’), Leila Hatami (‘Leila’ and ‘Sleep Vein’), Merila Zarei (‘Track 143’ and ‘Under a Smoky Roof’), and Baran Kosari (‘The Third Day’ and ‘Unknown Alley’), each winning the award twice.

Best Supporting Actor:

Saeed Pour-Samimi is the record-holder for the Fajr Festival’s Best Supporting Actor award, receiving three Crystal Simorghs for his performances in ‘Captain Khorshid’, ‘The Gifts’, and ‘The Last Act’.

Best Supporting Actress:

There is a tie between Nikou Kheradmand (‘Plaything’ and ‘The Last Act’), Shabnam Moqaddami (‘Breath’ and ‘Spare’), Fatemeh Motamed-Arya (Passengers’ and ‘Wasteland’), and Mahtab Nasirpour (‘I’m Taraneh, 15’ and 'In the Name of My Father') for the most Crystal Simorghs held for the Best Supporting Actress award with each actor holding two Crystal Simorghs.

The Fajr Film Festival is an annual event held on the anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, celebrating Iranian cinema. This year’s festival will be held from January 30-February 11, 2019 commemorating the 40th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

MB/MM