TEHRAN – The 17th Resistance Theater Festival in Tehran awarded winners during a ceremony at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall on Tuesday as “Where Are You Ebrahim” by Leili Aaj won the Soleimani Award, a special prize of the event.

The award was established by the organizers in memory of Commander Qassem Soleimani, the chief of IRGC Quds Force, who was assassinated during a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad on January 3.

“Where Are You Ebrahim” is about Ebrahim Hadi, a volunteer who made heroic endeavors to evacuate the remains of numerous Iranian soldiers from the battlefields during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.  

In the main competition section, the award for best actress was given to Mahnaz Rudsaz and the one for best actor went to Ali Farahnak, both for their roles in “Liliet” by Mohammadreza Shahmardi. 

Shahmardi also received the award for best playwright for “Liliet”, and the award for best director went to Alireza Marufi for “The Bodies”. 

In the street section, the award for best actress was given to Simin Behfar for the play “Gravel Path”, and Iman Nazifi received the award for best actor for “6599” by Masud Barahini who also received the best director award.

Next, the ceremony continued with honoring veteran theatrical figures. 

Actor and street theater expert Morteza Vakilian was honored with a lifetime achievement award, and the play “Epidemic” by Saeid Badini was honored for the best teamwork. The children’s special award was given to Hurad Habibi for narration of the play “Years before That Event”.

In addition, the three plays, “6599”, “Epidemic” and “Survivor”, were also introduced to the Fajr Theater Festival.

The ceremony continued with tributes paid to active theatrical figures, actor Kurosh Zarei, who is also the director of the Art Bureau’s Center for Dramatic Arts, and dramatist Nasrollah Qaderi.

In the student section, the award for best actress was given to Vida Musavi for “Behesht, Hakimallah”, while Musavi was also honored as the best director in this section.

The award for best actor was given to Mohammad-Hadi Atai for the play “Silent Scream”.

Due to a spike in the number of coronavirus cases, the 17th Resistance Theater Festival went online.
  
The street theater performances were held in open spaces with the audiences observing health protocols.

The Association of the Revolution and Sacred Defense Theater organizes the festival every year in collaboration with several other institutions.      

Ten children’s plays have also been selected to be staged during the festival in a special program.

RM/MMS/YAW