TEHRAN – The Ninth Iran Independent Animation Celebration was organized on Monday night in Tehran while laments on unemployment and recession in the field of animation dominated the gala.

Speaking at the beginning of the celebration at Eyvane Shams Hall, the secretary of the celebration Mohammad-Ali Safura said, “Unemployment and recession are the most important issues facing Iranian animators.”

“Unemployment and recession have dashed hopes and wiped happiness away from the smiling face of Iranian animation,” he added and asked cultural officials to solve the problems.

Veteran animator Mahin Javaherian who received a lifetime achievement award at the celebration also criticized the living conditions for animators and said, “Artists active in animation field lack a comfortable life.”

Javaherian, the director of the acclaimed animation “Inventions and Discoveries of Archimedes” and “It’s Raining Cats and Dogs”, expressed her hope that some new contracts signed between Iranian and international animation studios can help change the situation.

She said that Iran’s Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults invited many animators last year to work on some projects due to 30 agreements the institute inked with some international companies.

The organizers also paid tribute to Vahid Nasirian, a distinguished animator who died of heart failure at 46 last July.

The award for best animation at the gala went to “Release from Heaven” by Ali Nuri-Oskui, while Hajar Mehrani won the best director award for “Dash Akol”.  

Photo: Veteran animator Mahin Javaherian kisses an award she received for her lifetime achievements during the 9th Iran Independent Animation Celebration at Eyvane Shams Hall in Tehran on September 11, 2017. (Mehr/Shahab Qayyumi)

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