27th Fajr International Film Festival

The 27th Fajr International Film Festival (Persian: بیست و هفتمین جشنواره بین‌المللی فیلم فجر) held from 31 January to 10 February 2009 in Tehran, Iran.

27th Fajr International Film Festival

Official poster
Opening film	Every Night, Loneliness
Location	Tehran, Iran
Founded	1983
Awards	Crystal Simorgh Golden Simorgh
Editor-in-chief	Majid Shah-Hosseini [fa][1]
No. of films	277[1] 128 (Iranian films) 149 (foreign films)
Festival date	31 January–10 February 2009[1]
Language	Persian, English

Doubt (Varuzh Karim-Masihi, 2009) — which adapted from Shakespeare's Hamlet —^[2] was the festival's best film in "Competition of Iranian Cinema" and Snow (Aida Begić, 2008), a Bosnian film, was the festival's best film in "Competition of International Cinema".

Competition of Iranian Cinema

Tributes

Opening ceremony of the 27th Fajr International Film Festival's Competition of Iranian Cinema
Date	30 January 2009
Site	Milad Tower
Hosted by	Mohammad-Reza Foroutan[3]
Produced by	Morteza Razzaq-Karimi
Directed by	Majid Barzegar
Highlights
Most awards	Barefoot in Paradise [fa] (1) Three Women (1)
Most nominations	The Second Wife [fa] (2) Three Women (2)
Television coverage
Channel	IRIB TV2
Duration	3 hours, 15 minutes[3]

Opening ceremony of the festival's Competition of Iranian Cinema took place on 30 January 2009, at the Milad Tower in Tehran, Iran beginning at 7:45 p.m. IRST.^[a][3]

Following individuals tributed by Golden Plaque:^[3]

• Ebrahim Hatamikia  – Filmmaking occupations: director and screenwriter
• Mohammadreza Sharafoddin [fa]  – Filmmaking occupations: producer and special effects supervisor
• Deceased Khosrow Shakibai  – Filmmaking occupations: actor
• Rasul Sadr Ameli  – Filmmaking occupations: producer, director and screenwriter
• Mahmoud Kalari  – Filmmaking occupations: cinematographer

Advertisement Competition

Winners of Crystal Simorgh are listed first, highlighted in boldface and indicated with a double dagger (‡).

Winners of secondary awards are listed second, highlighted in boldface and indicated with a dagger (†).^[4][5]

Best Still Photography Barefoot in Paradise [fa]  – Ali Bagheri‡ Three Women  – Amir ʿAbedi‡ As Simple as That  – Ali Tabrizi The Second Wife [fa]  – Ali Zareʿ	Best Film Poster No winner The Second Wife [fa]  – Ali Zareʿ†[b] The Day Looms [fa]  – Mahsa Ghabaei and Leila Miri The Earth's Child [fa]  – Heidar Rezaei
Best Film Billboard No winner Three Women  – Amir-Sheiban Khaghani†[b] The Song of Sparrows  – Behzad Khorshidi There's Always a Woman [fa]  – Hamid-Reza Es'haghi	Best Film Trailer No winner Hidden Feeling [fa]  – Amir-Sheiban Khaghani†[b] Invitation  – Meysam Molaei [fa]†[b] The Song of Sparrows  – Mehrdad Khoshbakht [fa] Loose Rope [fa]  – Mehrshad Karkhani [fa]

Contending for Simorgh

Closing ceremony of the 27th Fajr International Film Festival's Competition of Iranian Cinema
Date	10 February 2009
Site	Ministry of Interior Hall
Hosted by	Mohammad-Reza Shahidifard [fa][6]
Produced by	Morteza Razzaq-Karimi
Directed by	Majid Barzegar
Highlights
Best Film	Doubt
Most awards	When We're All Asleep [fa] (3)
Most nominations	Doubt and About Elly (11)
Television coverage
Channel	IRIB TV2
Duration	3 hours, 30 minutes[6][7]

Closing ceremony of the festival's Competition of Iranian Cinema took place on 10 February 2009, at the Ministry of Interior Hall in Tehran, Iran beginning at 7:25 p.m. IRST.^[a][8] The ceremony was televised by IRIB.

Awards^[6] and nominations^{[9][10][11][12]} of the Competition of Iranian Cinema sections are below:

Golden Simorgh

Best Film with National Point of View As Blue as the Lilac [fa]  – Ebrahim Asghari [fa], producer‡ Motherland [fa]  – Abolhassan Davoudi [fa], producer†[c] Child and the Angel [fa]  – Hassan Kalami, producer†[c]

Audience Choice

Best Film Penniless  – Mostafa Shayesteh [fa], producer‡ About Elly  – Asghar Farhadi, producer‡

Main Competition

Best Film Doubt  – Saeed Sa'di [fa], producer‡ Twenty [fa]  – Pouran Derakhshandeh, producer The Postman Doesn't Knock 3 Times [fa]  – Javad Norouzbeigi [fa], producer About Elly  – Asghar Farhadi, producer Motherland [fa]  – Abolhassan Davoudi [fa], producer When We're All Asleep [fa]  – Bahram Beyzai, producer	Best Director Asghar Farhadi  – About Elly‡ Abdolreza Kahani  – Twenty [fa]†[b] Hassan Fathi  – The Postman Doesn't Knock 3 Times [fa] Varuzh Karim-Masihi  – Doubt Tahmineh Milani  – Superstar Bahram Beyzai  – When We're All Asleep [fa]
Best Screenplay Motherland [fa]  – Abolhassan Davoudi [fa] and Farid Mostafavi‡ Twenty [fa]  – Abdolreza Kahani and Hossein Mahkam [fa] Doubt  – Varuzh Karim-Masihi About Elly  – Asghar Farhadi Superstar  – Tahmineh Milani Karat 14 [fa]  – Parviz Shahbazi	Best Adapted Screenplay Doubt  – Varuzh Karim-Masihi, based on Hamlet by William Shakespeare‡
Best Actor Shahab Hosseini  – Superstar‡ Parviz Parastui  – Twenty [fa] Shahab Hosseini  – About Elly Masoud Rayegan  – Motherland [fa] Mohammad-Reza Foroutan  – Karat 14 [fa]	Best Actress Leila Hatami  – Penniless‡ Taraneh Alidoosti  – Doubt Baran Kosari  – About Elly Farideh Faramarzi [fa]  – The Empty Chair [fa] Mona Ahmadi [fa]  – Child and the Angel [fa]
Best Supporting Actor [fa] Alireza Khamseh  – Twenty [fa]‡ Hamed Komeili  – Doubt Saber Abar  – About Elly Kambiz Dirbaz  – Karat 14 [fa] Afshin Hashemi [fa]  – Child and the Angel [fa]	Best Supporting Actress [fa] Mahtab Keramati  – Twenty [fa]‡ Merila Zarei  – About Elly Pegah Ahangarani  – Motherland [fa] Tannaz Tabatabaei  – The Voices [fa] Leyla Zareh  – The Postman Doesn't Knock 3 Times [fa]
Best Cinematography [fa] The Day Goes and the Night Comes [fa]  – Morteza Poursamadi‡ The Penalty [fa]  – Saʿed Nikzat Doubt  – Bahram Badakhshani [fa] About Elly  – Hossein Jafarian Superstar  – Alireza Zarrindast	Best Film Editing [fa] When We're All Asleep [fa]  – Bahram Beyzaei and Sepideh Abdolvahab [fa]‡ The Postman Doesn't Knock 3 Times [fa]  – Hassan Hassandoust [fa] About Elly  – Hayedeh Safiyari Doubt  – Varuzh Karim-Masihi Child and the Angel [fa]  – Mohammadreza Muini [fa]
Best Score [fa] Motherland [fa]  – Karen Homayounfar‡ The Postman Doesn't Knock 3 Times [fa]  – Fardin Khalatbari [fa] Heiran [fa]  – Alireza Kohandeyri [fa] Superstar  – Nasser Cheshmazar When We're All Asleep [fa]  – Mohammad-Reza Darvishi	Best Sound [fa] About Elly  – Hassan Zahedi [fa] Mohammad-Reza Delpak[d]‡ The Postman Doesn't Knock 3 Times [fa]  – Hosein Abolsedgh [fa] Doubt  – Parviz Abnar The Day Goes and the Night Comes [fa]  – Mani Hashemian The Voices [fa]  – Parviz Abnar
Best Set and Costume Design When We're All Asleep [fa]  – Atoosa Ghalamfarsaei [fa] and Iraj Raminfar‡ The Penalty [fa]  – Asghar Nejad-Imani Doubt  – Amir Esbati [fa] The Voices [fa]  – Atoosa Ghalamfarsaei [fa] Child and the Angel [fa]  – Mohsen Ahangarani	Best Makeup [fa] When We're All Asleep [fa]  – Saeid Malekan‡ The Postman Doesn't Knock 3 Times [fa]  – Saeid Malekan Doubt  – Mohammadreza Qoumi [fa] About Elly  – Mehrdad Mirkiani The Day Goes and the Night Comes [fa]  – Soudabeh Khosravi [fa]
Best Special Effects [fa] As Blue As the Lilac [fa]  – Davoud Rasoulian [fa]‡ The Postman Doesn't Knock 3 Times [fa]  – Abbas Shoghi Child and the Angel [fa]  – Javad Sharifi-Rad The Mouse [fa]  – Javad Sharifi-Rad	Best Short Film Where Is Fatemeh's House?  – Fereydoun Najafi [fa]‡ Dream's Keys  – Sara Namjoo†[b] Old Men Never Die  – Reza Jamali Solitude  – Mehrdad Sheikhan Water Quatrains  – Shahram Alidi

Non-nomination Crystal Simorgh

Special Jury Prize Karat 14 [fa]  – Parviz Shahbazi, producer‡

Films with multiple nominations and awards

Nominations	Film
11	Doubt
	About Elly
8	The Postman Doesn't Knock 3 Times [fa]
6	When We're All Asleep [fa]
	Twenty [fa]
5	Motherland [fa]
	Superstar
	Child and the Angel [fa]
3	Karat 14 [fa]
	The Voices [fa]
	The Day Goes and the Night Comes [fa]
2	The Penalty [fa]

The following 12 films received multiple nominations:

Awards	Film
3	When We're All Asleep [fa]
2	Doubt
	About Elly
	Motherland [fa]
	Twenty [fa]

The following 5 films received multiple awards:

New Vision

Best Film Bleeding Heart [fa]  – Hossein Haghgoo, producer‡ Deportees 2 [fa]  – Habibollah Kasehsaz [fa] and DEFC [fa], producers Penniless  – Mostafa Shayesteh [fa], producer Doubt  – Saeed Sa'di [fa], producer Child and the Angel [fa]  – Hassan Kalami, producer

Best Director Varuzh Karim-Masihi  – Doubt‡ Saman Estaraki  – The Empty Chair [fa]†[b] Hassan Fathi  – The Postman Doesn't Knock 3 Times [fa] Shalizeh Arefpour  – Heiran [fa] Mohammad-Reza Rahmani  – Bleeding Heart [fa] Omid Bonakdar [fa] and Keyvan Ali-Mohammadi [fa]  – The Day Goes and the Night Comes [fa]

Non-nomination Crystal Simorgh

Special Jury Prize Deportees 2 [fa]  – Habibollah Kasehsaz [fa] and DEFC [fa], producers‡

Non-nominated Honorary Diploma

• Best Director: Masoud Naghashzadeh  – Child and the Angel [fa]

Additional Honorary Diploma

• Best Actor: Hamed Behdad  – Bleeding Heart [fa]
• Best Actress: Mona Ahmadi [fa]  – Child and the Angel [fa]
• Best Screenplay: Penniless  – Hamid Nematollah [fa] and Hadi Moghadamdoost
• Best Cinematography: When the Lemons Turned Yellow [fa]  – Fereydoun Shirdel

Video-Cinema

Best Film Zeynab  – Alireza Tavana and IRIB TV2, producers‡ Water and Mirror  – Kiumars Pourahmad, producer White Piece's Move  – Alireza Abolghaseminejad and Sima film, producers The Fifth Killer  – Manouchehr Zebardast, producer Mikaʿil  – Karamat Pourshahsavari, producer

Best Director Jamshid Bahmani  – Mikaʿil‡ Pourya Azarbayjani [fa]  – Water and Mirror†[b] Shahram Mokri  – Ashkan, the Charmed Ring and Other Stories†[b] Alireza Tavana  – Zeynab Mehdi Sabbaghzadeh [fa]  – Mangrove

Non-nominated Honorary Diploma

• Best Director: Hassan Lafafian  – White Piece's Move

Eye of the Reality

Best Documentary Feature Film Unfinished Picture: Bahman Jalali  – Touraj Rabbani, producer‡ This House Is Bright  – Mahmoud Abdollahi, producer My Heart Bleeds for Iran  – Javad Mir-Hashemi and DEFC [fa], producers

Best Documentary Short Film How Green Was Our Valley  – Touraj Aslani [fa], producer‡ Frozen Bubble  – Touraj Aslani [fa] and Amir Joghataei, producers†[b] Who Is That Man?  – Mahnaz Rokni, producer Square Without A Fence  – DEFC [fa], producer The Noise  – Babak Majidi, producer

Non-nominated Honorary Diploma

• Best Documentary Short Film: Dahieh  – Habibollah Valinejad, producer^[13]

Presenters and performers

The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers.^[6]

Presenters

Name(s)	Role
Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel Mohammad-Hossein Saffar Harandi Mohammad-Reza Jafari-Jelveh [fa]	Presenters of the award for Best Film with National Point of View
Mahmoud Farshchian Mohammad-Mehdi Asgarpour [fa]	Presenters of the award for Audience Choice of Best Film

Performers

Name(s)	Role
Hesameddin Seraj [fa]	Performer of the opening ceremony
Salar Aghili and Dastan Ensemble	Performers of the closing ceremony

Competition of International Cinema

Closing ceremony of the 27th Fajr International Film Festival's Competition of International Cinema
Date	3 February 2009
Site	Vahdat Hall[14]
Hosted by	Akbar ʿAlemi [fa][14]
Produced by	Morteza Razzaq-Karimi[14]
Directed by	Majid Barzegar[14]
Highlights
Best Film	Snow
Most awards	Snow (2) Pandora's Box (2)
Television coverage
Duration	2 hours, 25 minutes

Closing ceremony of the festival's Competition of International Cinema took place on 3 February 2009, at the Vahdat Hall in Tehran, Iran beginning at 7:35 p.m. IRST.^{[a][14][15][16]}

World Panorama

"World Panorama" is the main section of competition of International Cinema.

Audience Choice

Crystal Simorgh for Audience Choice of Best Film When We're All Asleep [fa]  – Bahram Beyzai‡ (Iran)

Crystal Simorgh for Best Film Snow  – Aida Begić‡ (Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Germany and Iran)	Crystal Simorgh for Best Director Aida Begić  – Snow‡ (Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Germany and Iran) Motherland [fa]  – Abolhassan Davoudi [fa]† (Iran, UAE and Germany)
Crystal Simorgh for Best Screenplay 9 mm [fr]  – Taylan Barman [fr] and Kenan Görgün‡ (Belgium and France)	Crystal Simorgh for Best Performance Tsilla Chelton, Derya Alabora and Ovul Avkiran  – Pandora's Box‡ (Turkey)
Crystal Simorgh for Best Technical and Artistic Achievement The Divine Weapon  – Kim Yoo-jin, director‡ (South Korea)	Crystal Simorgh for Best Short Film Amin [fr]  – David Dusa‡ (France, Germany and Netherlands) (Live Action) Why Dogs Hate Cats?  – Lida Fazli‡ (Iran) (Animated)

Non-nomination Crystal Simorgh

Crystal Simorgh of Special Jury Prize Pandora's Box  – Yeşim Ustaoğlu, director‡ (Turkey)

Seeking the Truth

"Seeking the Truth" section also known as "Competition of Spiritual Cinema". This section organized to emphasize cinema's incomparable capacity for depiction of the transcendental realms. Films which guide viewers to spiritual values and foster elevated human characteristics entered in this section.

Crystal Simorgh for Best Film Every Night, Loneliness  – Rasul Sadr Ameli‡ (Iran)	Crystal Simorgh for Best Director Juan Antonio Bayona  – The Orphanage‡ (Mexico and Spain)
Crystal Simorgh for Best Screenplay Walking My Life [ja]  – Satoshi Isaka [ja]‡ (Japan)

Additional Honorary Diploma

• Best Performance: Fattaneh Malek-Mohammadi [fa]  – Superstar (Iran)

Eastern Vista

"Eastern Vista" section also known as "Competition of Asian Cinema". This section organized to promote film art and industry in Asian countries. Asia is the main core of the East, and East is not limited to a geographic concept, whereas it also includes history, culture, identity and all the shared elements of the people in this part of the world. in addition to the diversity of cultures in the Asian countries, this section also insists on the necessity of connections, unification, and cooperation of these countries. The "Special Asian Unity Prize" is created with respect to this idea and goal.

Crystal Simorgh for Best Film With a Girl of Black Soil  – Jeon Soo-il‡ (South Korea)	Crystal Simorgh for Best Director Barmak Akram  – Kabuli Kid‡ (France and Afghanistan)
Crystal Simorgh for Best Screenplay Best Wishes for Tomorrow  – Takashi Koizumi‡ (Japan)

Special Asian Unity Prize

"Special Asian Unity Prize" from Asian Parliamentary Assembly awarded to:

• Motherland [fa]  – Abolhassan Davoudi [fa] (Iran, UAE and Germany)

Turquoise Road Prize

"Turquoise Road Prize" had no winner. The prize scheduled to the Best Film from Economic Cooperation Organization countries, jointly with ECO Cultural Institute.

Path of the Prophets

"Path of the Prophets" section awarded "Interfaith Award" to:

• A Time to Love [fa]  – Ebrahim Forouzesh (Iran)

Moustapha Akkad's Special Prize

"Golden Banner" in memorial of deceased Syrian director Moustapha Akkad, designed in order to persuade that part of the world cinema which has a respectful look at Islam and its greatness. The prize awarded to:

• Laila's Birthday [ar]  – Rashid Masharawi (Palestine, Tunisia and Netherlands)

Non-competition sections

Special Screenings, retrospectives and memorials

Ceremony information

The Kingdom of Solomon (Shahriar Bahrani, 2010) removed from the festival's list of accepted films, due to incompleteness of post-production processes.^[17]

One of the most controversial events of the Iranian cinema's passed year was Golshifteh Farahani's appearance in Body of Lies (Ridley Scott, 2008). Because of her performance in a Hollywood film, Asghar Farhadi's About Elly faced preventing its screening at the Fajr International Film Festival. At last, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stepped in and ordered the removal of the obstacles.^[18]

Bahram Beyzai's When We're All Asleep [fa] awarded by main prizes of the Fajr International Film Festival while many of his plays and scripts had rejected for production permit by government, after the revolution.^[19]

Footnotes

Notes

1. Ceremony was scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
2. Honorary Diploma winner
3. Golden Plaque winner
4. This award should be given for sound mixer but by mistake of ceremony executives, received by Hassan Zahedi [fa] who is the sound recorder of the film.

References

1. Anari, Elham (19 January 2009). نشست خبری جشنواره فیلم فجر [Fajr Film Festival press conference] (in Persian). Hamshahri Online.
2. Burnett 2019, p. 212.
3. آغاز جشنواره بیست و هفتم با پنج بزرگداشت و چند اتفاق هیجان‌انگیز [The 27th festival begins with five tributes and some exciting happenings] (in Persian). Mehr News Agency. 31 January 2009.
4. نامزدهای بخش مواد تبلیغی و اطلاع‌رسانی جشنواره معرفی شدند [Fajr Film Festival honored two Crystal Simorgh for "Advertisement Competition" section nominations announced] (in Persian). Fars News Agency. 28 January 2009.
5. اهدای دو سیمرغ در بخش مواد تبلیغی جشنواره فیلم فجر [Festival's "Advertisement Competition" section] (in Persian). Mehr News Agency. 30 January 2009.
6. بیست و هفت سیمرغ بلورین به برگزیدگان جشنواره بیست و هفتم اهدا شد [27th festival winners awarded by 27 Crystal Simorgh] (in Persian). Mehr News Agency. 12 February 2009.
7. بی‌پولی و درباره الی بهترین فیلم‌های جشنواره از دیدگاه تماشاگران [Penniless and About Elly elected as best films of the festival by audience choices]. Iran Fstivals. 10 February 2009. Archived from the original on 17 April 2009.
8. آغاز مراسم اختتامیه [Closing ceremony begins]. Iran Festivals. 10 February 2009. Archived from the original on 14 February 2009.
9. نامزدهای سودای سیمرغ جشنواره فیلم فجر معرفی شدند [Fajr Film Festival's "Longing for the Simorgh" section nominations announced]. Iran Festivals. 9 February 2009. Archived from the original on 17 April 2009.
10. معرفی نامزدهای دریافت سیمرغ بلورین بخش "نگاه نو" جشنواره فجر [Fajr Festival's "New Vision" section nominations announced]. Iran Festivals. 9 February 2009. Archived from the original on 14 February 2009.
11. نامزدهای جایزه بهترین آثار ویدیویی جشنواره فیلم فجر معرفی شدند [Fajr Film Festival's "Video-Cinema" section nominations announced]. Iran Festivals. 7 February 2009. Archived from the original on 14 February 2009.
12. نامزدهای دریافت سیمرغ بلورین بهترین فیلم کوتاه داستانی جشنواره فیلم فجر معرفی شدند [Fajr Film Festival's "Crystal Simorgh of Best Short Filml" nominations announced]. Iran Festivals. 7 February 2009. Archived from the original on 14 April 2009.
13. اسامی برندگان جوایز بخش سینمای مستند ایران (چشم واقعیت) اعلام شد ["Eye of the Reality" section winners announced]. Iran Festivals. 10 February 2009. Archived from the original on 31 March 2009.
14. فردا؛ نیمی از سیمرغ‌های جشنواره پرواز می‌كنند [Half of Simorgh prizes will award tomorrow] (in Persian). Fars News Agency. 2 February 2009.
15. برف، بیضایی و بگیچ سیمرغ‌های بلورین را به خانه بردند [Snow, Beyzai and Begić won the awards] (in Persian). Mehr News Agency. 5 February 2009.
16. یک سیمرغ بلورین تقدیم به کارگران افغانی مقیم ایران [A Crystal Simorgh dedicated to Afghani workers] (in Persian). Mehr News Agency. 4 February 2009.
17. حضور ملک سلیمان در جشنواره فجر منتفی شد [Presence of The Kingdom of Solomon in the Fajr Festival was canceled]. Etemad (in Persian). Vol. 7, no. 1884. 4 February 2009. p. 16 – via Magiran.
18. "Ahmadinejad orders removal of obstacles for screening About Elly". Mehr News Agency. 28 January 2009.
19. Esfandiary 2012, pp. 76–77.

Sources

• Burnett, Mark Thornton (2019). 'Hamlet' and World Cinema. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-13550-5.
• Esfandiary, Shahab (2012). Iranian Cinema and Globalization: National, Transnational, and Islamic Dimensions. Bristol: Intellect. ISBN 978-1-84150-470-4.

External links

• Film portal
• Iran portal

• Official website (English)
• Official website (Persian)
• Fajr live tv
• 27th Fajr International Film Festival on SourehCinema (in Persian)