Iranian filmmaker Yousef Kargareh received the Grand Prix at the 43rd Tehran International Short Film Festival for his film 'Psalms of Sorrow'. At the closing ceremony, held in Tehran on Thursday, he was awarded a Gold Leaf and a cash prize of $3000.
The ceremony took place at Milad Tower on October 22nd and was attended by filmmakers, film industry officials, and media representatives. Attendees included Raed Farizadeh, head of the Iranian Cinema Organization, and festival director Behrouz Shoeibi, as well as several other cultural figures and artists.
Within the international competition, the best feature film was awarded to Danish director Mikkel Bjørn Kelleert for his film 'Måske i marts' ('Perhaps in March'). Kiana Naghshine received an award for the best animated film 'Im Auto Tapes und Butterbrot', representing Germany. Chilean director Nils Atalla won a prize for the best experimental film 'Merrimundi'. Iranian filmmaker Seyfoolah Samadian received a special mention in the documentary section for his film 'That Day and Night, the Same Day.'
Afghan director Elham Ehsas won the award for the best AI-used film for 'Forgotten Spaceman', while Human Mahmoudi received the 'Emerging Horizons' special award for his Iranian film 'Bi Dar Koja'. Russian director Alexandra Sokolovskaya received a honorary diploma for the best feature film in the international competition for 'The Sun Fell and Rolled Away.'
Winners in the international category received Gold Leaves and cash prizes: $1000 was awarded in the main categories, and $500 for the 'Emerging Horizons' special award.
In a video message shown at the ceremony, Minister of Culture Seyed Abbas Salehi highly praised short films for their ability to unite diverse genres, styles, and narratives. Referring to this year's festival slogan—'Iranian Thought; Global Narrative'—he noted that Iranian short films have made significant progress in conveying local experience to an international audience, despite the difficulties the country faces.
In the national feature film competition, Marjan Ashrafizadeh won the Best Director award for the film 'Goreh', which also received a Gold Leaf in the Iranian section for Best Film. The Audience Award went to the film 'Adam', which received a Gold Plaque and 400 million rials.
Other major national awards included the Best Screenplay award for Sima Rasuli and Abolfazl Azizi for 'Injury', and a special jury award for Panah Alvani's film 'Japanese'. Ali Bakeri received the Best Actor award for his role in 'Ghasameh', and Narges Hezareh was honored with an honorary diploma for her performance in 'Bi Dar Koja.'
In the animation category, Molek Ekbali was awarded a Gold Leaf for 'Like a Friend, Like a Deer'. Habib Alvani received the award for Best Documentary Film 'Ehtezar', and Mohammad Sina Heidarizadeh won a Gold Leaf in the adapted film category for 'A Cat in the Snow'. Milad Shajani was recognized for his documentary research on the film 'The Song of the Sword Behind Glass Trenches.'
The 43rd edition of the festival ran from October 17th to 22nd, bringing together Iranian and international filmmakers in the feature, documentary, experimental, and animation sections. This event is one of the recognized platforms for short films in the region and provides an opportunity for emerging directors to present their work to audiences and industry professionals.