Fajr’s record holders for audience award

With less than one week to go until the opening ceremony of the 38th annual Fajr Film Festival in Iran, ifilm introduces the record holders for the festival’s most Audience Awards for Best Film over the years.

The award is one of the most sought after and prestigious recognitions for filmmakers as it provides raw feedback for films from the audiences’ perspective.

Filmmakers holding the most Audience Awards for Best Film are Ebrahim Hatamikia, Kamal Tabrizi, Majid Majidi, and Saeed Roustaee.

Hatamikia and Tabrizi share the top spot as both hold three Audience Awards for Best Film while Majidi and Roustaee are runner-up with two films each.

Ebrahim Hatamikia

‘The Glass Agency’ (1997)

‘Low Heights’ (2001)

‘The Purple’ (2009)

Kamal Tabrizi

‘The Wind Carpet’ (2002)

‘The Lizard’ (2003)

‘There’s Always a Woman Involved’ (1997)

Majid Majidi

‘The Color of God’ (1998)

‘The Willow Tree’ (2004)

Saeed Roustaee

‘Life and a Day’ (2005)

‘Just 6.5’ (2019)

Two of the record holders will be returning for this year’s festival with Hatamikia premiering his latest feature ‘Exit’ and Majidi premiering his film ‘The Sun’.

The Fajr Film Festival coincides with the Ten-Day Fajr (Dawn) ceremonies across Iran, marking the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Since its establishment in 1982, the Fajr Film Festival has played a vital role in the development of Iranian Cinema.

Supervised by Iran’s Ministry of Culture, the festival hosts veteran directors along with up and coming filmmakers from Iran every year.

The 38th edition of the event is set to launch on February 1, 2020 and will run until February 11 in Tehran.

An international version of the event is also set to be held in April 2020.

MB/MG