TEHRAN – Hadi Eftekharzadeh has won the second best actor award at the ImagineIndia International Film Festival in Madrid for his role in the Iranian drama “Charcoal” (“Komur”).

Written and directed by Esmaeil Monsef, the story of the film is set in rural northwest Iran, where Gheirat, a modest charcoal producer, is pushed into a tragic spiral after his son, sentenced to jail, flees to Azerbaijan.
 
Ali Suliman won the award for best actor for his role in the Palestinian drama “200 Meters”.

Maryna Koshkina from Ukraine was selected as best actress for her role “Blindfold”, while Nimisha Sajayan from India was given the second best actress award for her role in “The Great Indian Kitchen”.

Indian actor Swastika Mukherjee won the Critic´s Choice Award for the film “House of Cards”.

The jury has not yet announced the winners in several categories, including best film and best director.

Wen Cao Zhou from China received the award for best director of photography (DOP) for the film “Cafe by the Highway”.

Aliev Murat and Akjol Bekbolotov from Kyrgyzstan got second prize for best DOP for the film “Shambala”. Murat died of COVID-19 in 2020.

The award for best short film went to “The Miniaturist of Junagadh” by Kaushal Oza from India, while “American Anomie” by Shahriar Azim from the U.S. won the award for second best short film.

The story of “The Miniaturist of Junagadh” is set in India in 1947. The ravages of partition have compelled an old artist, Husyn Naqqash, to sell his ancestral home in Western India and move with his family to Karachi, Pakistan. When Kishorilal, a stoic and stone-hearted man, who has bought the house, comes to know that Husyn is a well-known miniature painter and has an invaluable and rare miniature collection, he schemes to get hold of the collection. But all is not what it seems and there is a secret about the collection that Husyn's family is holding back, not only from Kishorilal - but also from Husyn.

“Dona” by Marga Meliá from Spain was awarded a special mention in this category.

Photo: Hadi Eftekharzadeh acts in a scene from the Iranian drama “Charcoal” directed by Esmaeil Monsef.

MMS/YAW