The closing ceremony of the inaugural Iran Open-Air Film Festival was held at the Haft-Mahal Deylamoun Garden Eco-Lodge, where the winners were announced.
According to the Public Relations of the first edition of the Iran Open-Air Film Festival, the event concluded on the evening of Tuesday, May 20th, with the announcement of winners in various categories. At the beginning of the ceremony, Meysam Karimi, the host of the closing ceremony, invited Siavash Cheraghipour, the festival director, to give a speech.
Cheraghipour welcomed the attendees, saying: “I would like to extend a warm Welcome to all our dear guests who have accepted our invitation to be here and celebrate this family gathering of cinema.”
He added, “For months, Saeed Nejati and I had concerns about holding the festival and its format, but today we are happy to witness this great achievement becoming one of the lasting events in Iranian cinema, and God willing, it will continue regularly.”
Next, the teaser of the first edition of the Iran Open-Air Film Festival was screened, followed by a recap video showing the festival days at the Haft-Mahal Deylamoun Garden.
In the first award segment, the late Ebrahim Moradi award was presented by Zohreh Zamani and Navab Mahmoudi on behalf of the Bandar Anzali Filmmakers Society to Arshia Zeinali for the film “Invasion”.
Mohammad Zare received the next award in this section for the animation “Dot”.
The statue for this award was designed by Majid Aghabala-zadeh.
Next, Arash Rasafi, Masoud Madadi, and Amir Ghaderi came on stage to present the screenplay awards.
Mohammad Naseri Rad received a certificate of appreciation for the screenplay “The Hunter”.
The award for Best Adapted Screenplay went to Ammar Khatti for the screenplay “Seagull.”
Keyvan Shamshirbeigi’ screenplay “Horse’s Tooth” also received a special mention by the jury.
Following this, Fardin Ansari, Morteza Kamsari, and Ebrahim Hesari came on stage and presented certificates of appreciation for Best Production Design and Costume Design to Shahede Karimi and Seyed Hesam Hosseini for the film “Domestic”.
Amin Ghashghaeian and Erfan Ghasempour then awarded the certificate of appreciation for Best Makeup to Shahram Tavana for the film “Shahpar.”
The certificate of appreciation for Best Sound was presented by Majid Nejati and Mohammad Soraya to Nader Khaledi and Ehsan Afsharian for the film “Limo Knew Everything”.
The certificate of appreciation for Best Actress was awarded by Siavash Cheraghipour and Khorshid Cheraghipour to Fahimeh Momeni for the film “Zaak.”
Moreover, Mehdi Ghorbani was recognized as Best Actor for the film “Ant” at the Iran Open-Air Film Festival.
Next, Alireza Zendehdel, mayor of Lahijan, took the stage and said, “It is a privilege to have our esteemed artists here. We are very pleased to support the Iran Open-Air Film Festival and hope this event continues regularly in the years to come.” Ebrahim Khoshhal, chairman of Lahijan City Council, and Alireza Meschian, governor of Lahijan, were also present at the closing ceremony.
The festival’s filmmaking boot camp participants, under coach Mohammad Alizadeh Fard, came on stage to receive their certificates of appreciation. Samira Vahed, Majid Nejati, Navid Zare, and Mahmoud Farzinejad also joined them on stage to present the certificates.
Zendehdel, Khoshhal, and Cheraghipour then presented a special award to the documentary short film “The Granny & Fishes” directed by Maria Mavati and Ehsan Farokhi Fard, recognizing their environmental support through the art of cinema.
Dalavar Doostanian, Ako Zandkarimi, and Mohammad Taghi Loonamiz, manager of Halim Hemmat Lahijan and one of the festival’s sponsors, presented the certificate of appreciation for Best Cinematography to Hamed Hosseini Sangari for the film “Recurrence.”
