TEHRAN – War drama “Yadoo” was the top winner of the 39th Fajr Film Festival by garnering awards in several categories, including best film and best director.

“Yadoo” has been made based on Iranian writer Samad Taheri’s short story “Lion Wound”, which is from his short story collection of the same title.

The film tells the story of a teenage boy named Yadu living with his family and people under siege in the southwestern Iranian city of Abadan in the early days of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. The family is finally forced to migrate.

During the closing ceremony of the festival held at Tehran’s Milad Tower on Wednesday evening, producer Mohammadreza Mesbah dedicated his award to the people of Abadan and lamented that people are living under difficult conditions over 30 years after the war.

He also expressed his thanks to the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA) and the Farabi Cinema Foundation for their contribution to the project.

After accepting his award, director Mehdi Jafari expressed his appreciation to the people Abadan and IIDCYA, also acknowledging the acclaimed movies such as “Bashu, the Little Stranger” and “The Runner” produced by the institute during the 1980s.  

Morteza Najafi won the award for best director of cinematography for his collaboration both in “Yadoo” and director Ruhollah Hejazi’s “Bright”.

“Yadoo” also won Amir-Hossein Qasemi and Rashid Daneshmand the Crystal Simorghs for best sound effects engineer and best sound engineer respectively.

“Without Anything”, director Mohsen Qarai’s loose adaptation of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s “The Visit”, won the special jury award and the Crystal Simorgh for best screen adaptation. The screenplay has been co-written by Qarai and Mohammad Davudi.

The real-life drama “The Sniper”, which portrays Abdorrasul Zarrin, who was one of the most lethal snipers in the Iranian forces during the Iran-Iraq war, won the Golden Simorgh for best film from the national point of view. Ali Ghaffari is the director film.

“The Piebald” directed by Narges Abyar won the best audience film award.
 
“Zalava” by Arsalan Amiri received the award for best directorial debut. 

Co-written by Amiri, Ida Panahandeh and Tahmineh Bahram, the drama also won the best screenplay award. The film’s story is set in the 1970s in an Iranian village where villagers’ peace is threatened by an incident, but the sheriff tries to restore peace there.   

The award for best actor went to Reza Attaran for his role in “Bright”, and Roya Afshar won the award for best actress for her role in “Mom” directed by Arash Anisi.

Gelareh Abbasi won the best supporting actress award for her role in “The Piebald”, and Puria Rahimi-Sam was honored as best supporting actor for his role in “Zalava”.

The following is a list of other winners at the festival. 

Best editor: Emad Khodabakhsh for “Without Anything”. 

Best composer: Hamed Sabet for “Without Anything”. 

Best set design: Soheil Danesh-Eshraqi for “Once Upon a Time in Abadan”.

Best costume designer: Maral Jeirani for “Without Anything”.

Best makeup artist: Iman Omidvari for “The Piebald”.

Best practical special effects supervisor: Iman Karamian for “The Sniper”. 

Best computerized special effects supervisor: Farid Nazer-Fasihi for “The Piebald”.

Best documentary: “Coup 53” directed by Taqi Amirani.

Best short film: “Emergency” by Maryam Esmikhani.           

Photo: Producer Mohammareza Mesbah speaks after accepting the Crystal Simorgh for best film for “Yadoo” at the 39th Fajr Film Festival at Tehran’s Milad Tower on February 10, 2021. The film’s star Milad Soveilavi is also seen holding the award. (FFF/Mehdi Qasemi)

MMS/YAW