TEHRAN – Four cineastes were honored with lifetime achievement awards during the opening ceremony of the 35th Fajr Film Festival at Tehran’s Milad Tower on Saturday night.

Veteran actor Mohammad Kasebi was the first of the honorees who were awarded Crystal Simorghs. In his acceptance speech, he asked God to bestow peace upon everyone.

Veteran producer Gholamreza Musavi was next to receive an award. He thanked his wife who has borne all the problems throughout their lives and also expressed his respect to actress Taraneh Alidoosti who is boycotting the Oscar Ceremony over Trump’s immigration policy.

Alidoosti, the star of Iran’s Oscar-nominated drama “The Salesman”, has said that she would boycott the Oscars ceremony in protest of U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed ban on visas to citizens from seven countries, including Iran.

Cinematographer Turaj Mansuri and screenwriter Farhad Tohidi were the other honorees of the opening ceremony.

Tributes were also paid to the victims of Tehran’s Plasco Building collapse, and Amir Mahdian, the firefighter who was injured during the Plasco rescue operation was called on stage and was honored at the ceremony.

In addition, winners of several different sections including, best poster, best trailer and best photo were awarded.

Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Seyyed Reza Salehi-Amiri, Cinema Organization of Iran Director Hojatollah Ayyubi and a great number of artists were among the participants in the opening ceremony 

The festival will be held in Tehran and several other Iranian cities from January 30 to February 9.

Photo: Actor Mohammad Kasebi (C) accepts a Crystal Simorgh from his fellow Majid Mozaffari for his lifetime achievements during the opening ceremony of the 35th Fajr Film Festival at Tehran’s Milad Tower on January 28, 2017. Actor Homayun Ershadi is also seen in the photo. (Mehr/Mohammadreza Abbasi)

RM/YAW