TEHRAN – Oscar-winning drama “The Salesman” received more honors for director Asghar Farhadi in his homeland by collecting top awards at the 19th Iran Cinema Celebration on Tuesday night.

The film was honored in seven categories, including best film, best director, and best screenplay while “The Salesman” actor Babak Karimi and Farhadi’s assistant, Maryam Naraqi, accepted the awards in his absence. 

Farhadi, who is currently busy making his new film “Everybody Knows” in Spain, thanked the Iranian House of Cinema, the organizer of the gala, in a video screened during the celebration at Tehran’s Payam Club.

The films’ star Shahab Hosseini was named best actor and Farid Sajjad-Hosseini won the best supporting actor award for his role in the movie.

Film editor Hayedeh Safiyari and set designer Keyvan Moqaddam also received awards for their collaboration in the film.

“Subdued” by Hamid Nematollah also emerged victorious by winning five awards at the celebration. 

Leila Hatami was named best actress for her role in the film and the director of photography Farshad Mohammadi, sound engineer Babak Ardalan, sound effects engineer Bahman Ardalan, and special effects engineer Sina Qavidel were also honored for their collaboration in the movie.

“Red Nail Polish” by Seyyed Jamal Seyyed-Hatami brought its star Pantea Panahiha the best supporting actress award.

Karen Homayunfar received the best composer award for Puria Azarbaijani’s war drama, “Arvand”.

The award for best costume designer was presented to Abbas Bolondi for “The Orphanage of Iran” by Abolqasem Talebi, while Abdollah Eskandari and Mehrdad Mirkiani won the award for best makeup artist for “Lanturi” by Reza Dormishian.

Monir Qeidi’s debut feature film “The Villa Tenants” won Iman Karamian the award for best practical special effects supervisor.

Farnush Abedi’s “The Servant” was selected as best animation and “Animal”, co-directed by Bahram and Bahman Ark, was named best short.

“Womanliness” directed by Mohsen Ostadali won the best documentary award and Mehdi Qanavati received the best director award in the documentary category.

The organizers also paid a tribute to director Vahid Jalilvand and actor Navid Mohammadzadeh for their triumph at the Venice International Film Festival. Earlier on Sunday, Jalilvand won the Orizzonti award for best director for “No Date, No Signature” and Mohammadzadeh received the Orizzonti best actor award at the Italian event.

Photo: This combo shows Farid Sajjad-Hosseini (L) holding the supporting actor award for his role in “The Salesman” and Leila Hatami with the best actress award for “Subdued” during the 19th Iran Cinema Celebration at Tehran’s Payam Club on September 12, 2017. (Mehr/Behnam Tofiqi) 

 MMS/YAW