TEHRAN – Nominees for the Islamic Revolution Artist of the Year in nine different categories were announced on Saturday.

The winner of the title will be announced on the closing day of the Islamic Revolution Art Week on April 15, Ali Foruzanfar, deputy director of the Art Bureau, the organizers of the event, said during a press conference.

In the visual art category, graphic designer Masud Nejabati, miniaturist Mina Sadri, illustrator Mohammadreza Doostmohammadi and cartoonist Mohammad-Hossein Nirumand are competing for the tile.

Foruzanfar said that the selecting team is still indecisive about nominees for the architecture and painting categories. Nominees for the sections will be announced during the weeklong festival. 

Poet Mehdi Jandar and writer Ali-Asghar Ezzati-Pak have been nominated in the literature section, while songwriter Mohammad-Mehdi Sayyar received a nomination in the music category.

Writers Golestan Jafari and Hedayatollah Behbudi are competing for the title in the resistance literature section.

In the cinema category, documentarian Mohsen Eslamzadeh received a nomination. In addition, director Mohammad Kheirandish was nominated for his acclaimed animated movie “Dolphin Boy”, and Hossein Darabi was picked for his political drama “Henas”, which portrays the true story of the assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist who was shot dead by Mossad agents.

Stage director Ayyub Aqakhani was picked in the dramatic arts category, and in the satire section, Mehrdad Sediqi was selected.

Ali-Asghar Fahimifar is contending for the title in the research section, while Seyyed Abbas Mirhashemi is competing in the photography category.

For the first time, the organizers also plan to select a person for his/her lifetime achievements as the Eternal Figure of Revolutionary Art. 

In addition, they also will choose an event as the Top Revolutionary Event of the Year.

Painter Abdolhamid Qadirian was named the 2021 Islamic Revolution Artist of the Year.

The Islamic Revolution Art Week is organized every year to commemorate the martyrdom anniversary of documentarian Morteza Avini.

He was killed by a landmine in 1993 during his last trip to the former Iran-Iraq war zone in southwestern Iran while making a documentary about soldiers who were still listed as missing in action.   

Photo: A poster for the Islamic Revolution Art Week. 
 
MMS/YAW