The 43rd edition of the Fajr International Film Festival concluded on Tuesday, December 2, with an awards ceremony held at the Honar Shahr Aftab Cineplex in Shiraz. The closing night brought together senior officials including Seyed Abbas Salehi, Iran’s Minister of Culture; Raed Faridzadeh, Head of the Iranian Cinema Organization; Hossein Ali Amiri, Governor of Fars Province; along with filmmakers, industry professionals, and media representatives.
During the ceremony, the winners of the Photo and Video section were announced. The Certificate of Honor for Best Short Film (60 Seconds) was awarded to Ali Tavasoli, while the Crystal Simorgh for Best Photograph went to Sobhan Farajvan. In a separate segment of the event, Reza Mirkarimi, acclaimed Iranian director and screenwriter and former secretary of the Fajr International Film Festival, was honored for his contributions to cinema.
This year’s festival presented awards across four competitive sections — International Competition, Eastern Vista (Films from Asia), Future Frame (First and Second Films), and Broken Olive Branch — with a total of 46 films: 16 titles in International Competition, 12 in Eastern Vista, 10 in Future Frame, and 8 in Broken Olive Branch.
Below is the complete list of winners:
International Competition
Jury: Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Turkey), Mahmoud Kalari (Iran), Angelos Frantzis (Greece), Christophe Rezai (France–Iran), Jose Cabrera Betancort (Spain), Bijaya Jena (India), Samira Hadj Djilani (Algeria)
• Crystal Simorgh for Best Film is awarded to “Lesson Learned” from Hungary, directed by Balint Szimler and produced by Gabor Osvath and Zoltan Martonffy.
• Crystal Simorgh for Best Director is awarded to Martin Pavol Repka for the film “March to May.”
• Crystal Simorgh for Best Script is awarded to Elena Kiseleva and Andrey Konchalovskiy for the film “Look at Me” from Russia.
• Crystal Simorgh for Best Artistic Contribution is awarded to Ahmed Malek, the young actor of the film “My Father’s Scent,” a co-production of Egypt, Norway, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and France, directed by Mohamed Siam.
• Crystal Simorgh for the Special Jury Award is awarded to “River Returns” from Japan, directed by Masakazu Kaneko.
Eastern Vista
Jury: Aleksandra Markovic (Croatia), Igor Viktorovich Levshin (Russia), Hoda Zeinolabedin (Iran), Teng Lee Yein (Malaysia), Shushanik Mirzakhanyan (Armenia)
• Crystal Simorgh for Best Film is awarded to “Where the White Cranes Dance” from Russia, directed by Michael Lukachevsky, and produced by Michael Lukachevsky, Semyon Amanatov, Valeria Motorueva, and David Gurtskaya.
• Crystal Simorgh for the Special Jury Award is awarded to “The Settlement” from Egypt, Qatar, Germany, France, and Saudi Arabia, directed by Mohamed Rashad.
• Crystal Simorgh for Artistic Contribution is awarded to Behnoush Sadeghi, director of “Calm Man” from Iran, for her achievement in successfully orchestrating the interaction of the film’s creative elements — from acting to cinematography to set and costume design.
• Special Mention goes to “In the Belly of a Tiger” from India, directed by Jatla Siddartha.
Future Frame
Jury: Deniz Yavuz (Turkey), Eugene Henri More (France), Mehdi Karampour (Iran)
• Crystal Simorgh for Best Film is jointly awarded to two films, with the cash prize divided between them: “Round 13” from Tunisia, directed by Mohamed Ali Nahdi and produced by Melik Kochbati; and “Two Faces of Autumn” from Iran, Australia, and Canada, directed by Ronak Taher and produced by Amir Parvin Hosseini.
• Crystal Simorgh for the Special Jury Award is awarded to “Riverstone” from Sri Lanka, directed by Lalith Rathnayake.
Broken Olive Branch
Jury: Mohammed Al-Kindi (Oman), Nebojsha Jovanovikj (North Macedonia), Farzad Motamen (Iran)
• Crystal Simorgh for Best Film is awarded to “All That’s Left of You” (fiction), directed by Cherien Dabis, a co-production of Germany, Cyprus, Palestine, Jordan, Greece, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.
• Special Jury Award is presented to “From Ground Zero” (fiction and documentary), produced by Rashid Masharawi and directed by 22 filmmakers — a co-production of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, France, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, and Denmark — for its powerful and convincing depiction of the lived reality and suffering endured over the past two years, seen through the lenses of twenty-two artists from Gaza.
• Special Mention goes to “Valley of Exile” (fiction), directed by Anna Fahr from Canada and Lebanon, for its notable visionary style.
The 43rd Fajr International Film Festival, held from November 26 to December 3, welcomed filmmakers, producers, and storytellers from around the world, reaffirming its mission to celebrate cinematic voices committed to justice, dignity, and cultural dialogue.
