TEHRAN – The organizers of the 5 International Photo Award have launched a prize named after the world-renowned Iranian filmmaker and photographer Abbas Kiarostami.

The Abbas Kiarostami Gold Camera will be awarded to the top work in the New Look category for the first time in the fourth edition of the award ceremony on June 22, which is Kiarostami’s birthday.

The prize is a statue of Kiarostami’s hands holding a gold camera. 

“Numerous photographers from Italy, Japan, France, Turkey and several other countries submitted their works to the festival, therefore, we decided to establish the prize to represent our country,” 5 International Photo Award president Mehdi Shadizadeh said in a press release published on Monday

“The New Look section focuses on photos in which the composition is no longer important; concepts, creativity and photomontage play the key role in this section,” he added.

Takehiko Nakafuji is the president of the jury of this year’s 5 International Photo Award.

The jury also comprises Frank Baquet from Germany, Ayako Takaishi from France, Tahir Un from Turkey, and Mara Zamuner from Italy.

Lili Golestan, Alireza Shadizadehm Alireza Kanji, Majid Talebi, Adel Hervian and Behdad Najafi are the Iranian members of the jury.

Kiarostami’s frequent visits to a single almost 500-year-old tree of Juniper species near the village Aro in the Damavand region inspired the photo award. The tree was the subject of numerous photographs taken by Kiarostami in different seasons.

In addition, the award’s title refers to “Five Dedicated to Ozu”, Kiarostami’s 2003 documentary which is a tribute to Japanese filmmaker Yasujir Ozu whose work deeply influenced Kiarostami’s films.
 
This year’s award ceremony is sponsored by the Tehran branch of Fujifilm, a Japanese photography products company, Golestan Gallery in Tehran, the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art and several other organizations.

Photo: A photo shows the Abbas Kiarostami Gold Camera, which will be awarded to the top work in the New Look category of the 5 International Photo Award this year.

MMS/YAW