The family of the filmmakers have faith in the cinema awards ceremony: Kiumars Pourahmad
At the 15th Iranian cinema national awards ceremony, held in Masoudiyeh building on Friday, September 16, three statuettes of merit for best script, best direction and best film were awarded to Asghar Farhadi for his film “Nader and Simin: a Separation”.
According to the House of Cinema’s website, the ceremony began with the performance of the national anthem, recitation of verses from the Holy Quran, followed by the screening of a video-clip on the departed filmmakers of the past year. Then Kiumars Pourahmad, secretary of the 15th Iranian cinema national awards ceremony, stepped on the stage and thanked his colleagues for their efforts in arranging the ceremony. He said: “I wish to thank Jalal Shamsian, managing director of Novin Orafa Company, the sponsor of the ceremony, whose support and assistance was greatly effective in the House of Cinema’s independence. He is a member of the family of the House of Cinema. Also deserving of our especial thanks are Mohamamd Mehdi Asgarpour and Farhad Towhidi, and the other friends at the House of Cinema for their steadfastness. Also our especial thanks to Maziar Miri, the executive manager of the ceremony. Many of the events and initiatives in the ceremony were undertaken by him.” Thanking the jury of the national awards ceremony, he said: “I could never bring myself to find fault with the 143 jurors who are all honest and expert people, either members of the House of Cinema or closely working with it.”
Referring to the hard work undertaken for the organization of the ceremony, Pourahmad said: “Maziar said nothing to the objections that were made, but he should know that all 143 jurors were targets of the protests. After all, the entire members of the House of Cinema do not have the same type of understanding and logic.”
The secretary of the national awards ceremony, referring to the script of the Travelers, said: “The family of filmmakers believe in their mission of preserving the mirror which we have inherited from our forerunners and passing it on to the future generations. The family have faith in growth and blooming under the roof of the House of Cinema and will bear all hardships to organize ceremonies such as this. All members from the oldest to the youngest are valuable and they all had effective presence and helped the House of Cinema with the ceremony.”
Then Kamal Tabrizi and Hassan Pourshirazi stepped on the stage to present the statuettes for best publicity materials. The statuette of merit for best credit design was presented to Shahaboddin Najafi for the film “Peaceful Streets”.
In the trailer section the diploma of honor was awarded to Meisam Mowlaee for the film “The Last Theft” and in the teaser section Amir Sheiban Khaqani received the diploma of honor for the film “Spring Picnic 59”.
At the 15th ceremony 15 moments were devoted to 15 artists. The first moment was devoted to Asghar Bichareh, the veteran still photographer, actor and assistant, for whom a video-clip was screened.
In the poster section Alireza Khamseh and Majid Akhavan presented the diploma of honor to Arash Sadeqi for the film “A Lump of Sugar” and to Alireza Nosrati for “Nader and Simin: a Separation”. The statuette of merit of the national Iranian cinema award ceremony and diploma of honor were presented to Ali Nikraftar for “A Lump of Sugar”.  Alireza Khamseh, referring to the statement of Jahangir Kowsari at the previous edition of the ceremony who had said that everything at the ceremony is excellent except the fact that its secretary is the shortest of them all, said: “This year we are presenting the tallest secretary and so everything is acceptable.”
The second moment of the ceremony was devoted to Bahram Beizai.
Gholamreza Mousavi and Mehdi Fakhimzadeh stepped on the stage to present the prizes for best first film. In this section the diploma of honor for best director of a first film was presented to Vahid Nasirian for the animation “The Heart of Simorgh”.  Nasirian thanked the jury and said: “This film is the fruit of a 4-year labor of love by 95 people all of whom I can not thank at the moment. But I believe one of the reasons for the jury’s decision was due to the fine music and sound effects created by Mahmoud Mousavi-Nezhad and Payam Azadi, and I am grateful to both of them”. 
The statuette of merit of the Iranian cinema ceremony and the diploma of honor of this section was awarded to Amir Saqafi for the direction of the film “Death Is My Business”. Saqafi said: “I am grateful to the jury and I donate this prize to my father to whom I owe every minute of my life.”
The statuette of merit of the Iranian cinema ceremony and the diploma of honor for Best film was awarded to Fereshteh Taerpour for the film “Opposite Mirrors”. She too thanked the jury and said: “This prize is especially valuable as over 100 professional jury of the House of Cinema evaluated the film over a 3-month period. This is the first statuette I have received from the House of Cinema. I usually produce films for children and this category of films are not often seen at the House of Cinema’s ceremony. At this moment receiving a prize is as sweet for as it is to give a prize. And despite all the worth which this prize has for me I wish to donate it to a very fine director of the Iranian cinema not only because he creates good films but also for the moment by moment management of this ceremony. This is my way of paying respect to his broken heart and I hope that he will not be discouraged by the difficulties and problems and that we will witness more ceremonies arranged by Maziar Miri. He should know that this ceremony is much more valuable than the other film festivals.”
In response Miri said: “You deserve this prize for your many years of hard work in the cinema.”
The third moment of the ceremony was devoted to the late Seifollah Daad, the film director and one of the best managers in the Iranian cinema in the past years.
In continuation of the ceremony Farhad Towhidi and Mohammad Mehdi Asgarpour presented the especial medal of the ceremony to Jalal Shamsian, managing director of Novin Orafa Company, the principle sponsor of the Iranian cinema ceremony. The following text signed by Farhad Towhidi (chairman of the board of directors of the House of Cinema) and Mohammad Mehdi Asgarpour (managing director of the House of Cinema) was inscribed on the medal:
Dear Mr. Jalal Shamsian,
Civil institutes including the film guilds are meant to determine, classify and assign priorities to the demands and expectations of the people in their guilds. At this historical juncture, when the present mangers of the government organizations do not believe in this limited mission of the guilds, and try to create conditions for their annihilation through restricting their financial resources, the timely assistance you have provided to House of Cinema will never be forgotten by members of the film guilds, and will never be effaced from the historical memory of the Islamic Iran. On behalf of the Iranian film guilds we extend our sincerest gratitude to you and pray that God Almighty may grant you health and happiness.”
After receiving the medal Shamsian said: “I wish to express my gratitude for my wife and child as well as all the guests, especially Bahman Farmanara, who is a distinguished filmmaker and a symbol of independent spirit and dignity”
Mohammad Mehdi Asgarpour, managing director of the House of Cinema and as a representative of the film guilds congratulated the audience on the national day of cinema. He said: “I wish to thank all the dear friends who, as members of the House of Cinema, assisted the board of directors. As a result of their help our efforts bore fruit and the House of Cinema continues to operate. I am also grateful to Pourahmad and Miri who spared no effort to organize a ceremony worthy of the dignity of the great Iranian film community.”
He went on: “And thank God we managed to arrange the ceremony in spite of all the problems and difficulties. Under the circumstances when it is not possible to study life conditions, and the greatest portion of any such studies can only be carried out within the framework of the government institutions, with very little scope for action by the guilds, I request members of the great family of filmmakers to prepare the conditions for the study of the conditions and circumstances for guild behavior. The aim of such studies should be to prevent certain digressions and prepare grounds for cooperation in the creation of a better future.”
Referring to the week of the sacred defense and the Iranian cinema in this genre, the managing director of the House of Cinema said: “Films on the sacred defense created a especial atmosphere in the Iranian cinema, and it will take years before we can find out what values these films created for the Iranian cinema.”
Referring to the guild cooperative attitude that has emerged, Asgarpour said: “We have to use the energy and capabilities everybody in the House of Cinema. We have all seen how we can preserve the House and help ourselves and our colleagues. We have to realize that we should not step out of the circle of togetherness as it possesses advantages parts of which we have already gained and parts of which we will realize in the future.”

The fourth moment of the ceremony was devoted to Parviz Davai the film critic and writer with the screening of a clip.

In continuation of the ceremony, Anahita Hemmati and Ebrahim Haqiqi, the graphic artist, stepped on the scene the present the statuette of merit for best visual especial effects. The statuette of merit of the ceremony of the Iranian cinema and diploma of honor of this section were awarded to Amir Reza Motamedi for the film “33 Days”. Motamedi talked of the especial effects as a new industry in the Iranian cinema and asked the board of directors of the House of Cinema to help stabilize this guild in the House of Cinema.
Haniyeh Tavassoli and Yadollah Samadi, the film director, came forward to present the awards for best field especial effects. Samadi pointed out that this specific job was one of the most dangerous in filmmaking and causes the greatest number of casualties in the Iranian cinema. The statuette of merit and diploma of honor were awarded to Najaf Fattahi for the film “The Marine Silk Road”.
The fifth moment of the ceremony was devoted to Asghar Shahverdi, the veteran sound recordist in the Iranian cinema, who has been confined to a wheelchair for some time as a result of injuries he received in an accident and attended the ceremony along with his family.
Jahangir Mir Shekari, the sound recordist and Manouchehr Esmaili, the dubbing expert, came forward to present the statuette for best sound recording. About the person who was to receive the statuette, Esmaili said: “This is a time for consolation not statuette”. The statuette of merit of the Iranian cinema ceremony and diploma of honor in this section were presented to Mehran Malakouti for the film “The Peaceful Streets”. Malakouti thanked his colleagues on the projects, especially Ashkan Fakhri and said: “This prize means a lot to me as I receive from my master.”
Niki Karimi and Masoud Behnam stepped on the stage to present the prize for best sound mix. Karimi pointed out that this is the second time he is participating in the ceremony and presented the statuette of merit of the Iranian cinema ceremony and diploma of honor to Amir Hossein Qasemi for the film “Here Without Me”.  And Qasemi said: “It is a great honor for me to receive this prize. I wish to thank the jury and the sound association. A few days ago I read in an article that when some one is about to die he loses his sense of hearing first. So I hope you will always be hearing.” Masoud Behnam recounted an anecdote involving Pourahmad: “Many years ago he was making the TV series “Majid’s Adventures” and was taking care of all the jobs for the series. He had gone to buy tangerines and he had said to the vendor that the tangerines were too small, and the vendor had answered that he could sit down and just look at them.”

The sixth moment of the ceremony was devoted to Malek-Jahan Khazaee, the set designer.

Vishka Asayesh and Rambod Javan stepped on the scene to present the prize for best costume design. The statuette of merit of the Iranian cinema ceremony and diploma of honor were presented to Asghar Nezhad Imani for the film “Moonlight on the Platform”.
Panthea Bahram and Amir Esbati came forward to present the statuette for best set design. The statuette of merit of the Iranian cinema ceremony and diploma of honor were awarded to Atousa Qalamfarsaee, who was on a trip and Esbati who is her neighbor promised to give the prize to her.

The seventh moment of the ceremony was devoted to Ebrahim Hatamikia.

And then Baran Kowsari and Hamed Behdad stepped on the stage to present the prize for best supporting actress.
Kowsari said: “Thank God, the ceremony was held once again this year in spite of all the difficulties and oppositions.”
And Behdad said: “I congratulate all the nominees and Ms. Javaherian who might have liked to receive this prize from the hands of a more capable master. But there are people here for whom the independence of the House of Cinema is very important and I present this prize to you as their representative.”
Negar Javaherian, the winner of the statuette for best supporting actress for her performance in the film “Here Without Me”, said: “I am delighted to receive this prize from two old friends. I wish to thank the jury and Bahram Tavakoli, as well as the people in the making of the film. Since this morning I have been thinking of what I could say if I am awarded the prize. I thought I should express my love and respect for all the nominees and speak about a lot of other subjects which I now think should be left unspoken.  But I love this statuette so much that I would like to wash it every evening just like the character in `Here Without Me’ tell it that soon I will be all right. I am not very much used to being in large gatherings.”
Hengameh Qaziani and Saber Abr came forward to present the statuette for best supporting actor. About the House of Cinema Qaziani said: “This house remains with pride and honor and it provides us with a sense of security and support.” The statuette of merit of the Iranian cinema ceremony and diploma of honor were presented to Shahab Hosseini for his performance in “Nader and Simin: a Separation”. Hosseini said: “I don’t suppose this award is meant for an individual; it is an appreciation for a certain attitude based on faith and belief. For that reason I congratulate Asghar Farhadi. He donated his prize Kamal Tabrizi for his outstanding good actions.” After receiving his prize, Hosseini along with Hamed Behdad went to visit the war wounded inmates of Sarallah Sanatorium.

The eighth moment of the ceremony was devoted to Jalaleddiddn Moayerian.

Fariba Kowsari and Davoud Mirbaqeri stepped on the stage to present the statuette for best make-up. The statuette of merit of the Iranian cinema ceremony and diploma of honor were presented to Abdollah Eskandari for the film “A Lump of Sugar”.  Mirbaqeri said: “I am proud to present this prize tonight to Abdollah Eskandari. Apart from being very creative and innovative in his work, he was a very good adviser for me about 28 years ago. I wish him a long life and more creative work”.

The ninth moment of the ceremony was devoted to Mohammad Reza Shajarian along with loud applause by the audience.

Then Shahrdad Rohani and Homayoun Shajarian stepped on the stage to present the prize for best musical score. Before presenting the prize Homayoun Shajarian said: “As a lover of art, I congratulate the winners. I hope the art and culture of this land, which has gone through many ups and downs and has reached the present state of prestige, continues untiringly to progress.” The statuette of merit of the Iranian cinema ceremony and diploma of honor for best musical score were presented to Karen Homayounfar who said: “I am glad to receive the prize from people whose family lineage is intertwined with music. This is my third statuette and I take great pride in these prizes”. And Shahrdad Rohani, pointing to the fact that this is the first time he is participating in the ceremony, said: “I don’t live in Iran, but I follow up all news about the Iranian cinema and I am glad the Iranian film industry has progressed to the degree that Iranian films are presented all over the world. I wish the best success for the Iranian cinema and I hope it will continue to be present on the international scenes.”

The tenth moment of the ceremony was devoted to Abbas Ganjavi.
Varuzh Karim-Masihi and Mahnaz Afshar came on the scene to present the statuette for best editing. In a Short speech Afshar said: “I am glad to have been nominated at the Iranian cinema ceremony and I wish affection and support for all”. Addressing Javaherian she said: “Dear Negar! I am glad you have received a prize. I wish the best for you.”
The statuette of merit of the Iranian cinema ceremony and diploma of honor in this section were presented to Mohammad Reza Moini who was not present at the ceremony, and his son Meisam Moini received the prize and thanked Maziar Miri the director of the film “Saadatabad” and Homayoun Asadian the producer of the film.
After devoting another moment of the ceremony to Maziar Partov, the statuette of merit of the Iranian cinema ceremony and diploma of honor for best cinematography were presented by Alireza Zarrindast and Masoud Rayegan to Hamid Khozouee Abyaneh for the film “Here Without Me”.

The eleventh moment of the ceremony was devoted to Parviz Parastouee.
Roya Teimourian and Homayoun Asadian presented the statuette of merit of the Iranian cinema ceremony and diploma of honor for best actress to Fatemeh Motamed-Aria for her performance in the film “Here Without Me”. Addressing Asadian, Motamed-Aria said: “It may not be enough at such a gathering to say that I am glad to have received this prize. This is an act of kindness, something that we seem to have lost for years. We are not kind to one another anymore.”
Referring to the architecture of Masoudieh building, she said: “We have driven this building from our hearts, and this is part of the process of having lost kindness for one another. But tonight with this ceremony which is worth the dignity of cinema, we have gained our dignity after many years.  This is what Mr. Beheshti taught us, so that we could establish the House of Cinema and be independent. And I am glad to say in the presence of Mr. Beheshti that the House of Cinema has become independent. What is happening tonight is worth the dignity of cinema which has grown step by step and gained its dignity.”
Criticizing the present condition of the cinema, Motamed-Aria said: “What we have lost is the prohibition of banality, of ugliness, anger and animosity. Such a prohibition opens the way for kindness. For me this is a statuette of reconciliation. I have been feeling anger toward the House of Cinema – and of course not animosity. I hope we can all cooperate to preserve the dignity which we have just regained.”
Roya Teimourian congratulated Motamed-Aria for winning the statuette of merit of the Iranian cinema ceremony and the prize at Montreal World Festival, and addressing the wounded war veterans who were attending the ceremony she said: “Our dear wounded war veterans have added glory to our ceremony tonight.”
In continuation of this section Fereshteh Taerpour stepped on the stage to present the Montreal festival prize to Motamed-Aria. After receiving the prize Motamed-aria said: “For this prize I should be thankful to Bahram Tavakoli who tolerated all my bad tempers and jokes. I am proud to say that I owe this prize to Tavakoli. He is one of the exceptions in the cinema”.
The presentation of the prize for best actor was undertaken by Merila Zarei and Mehran Modiri.  Modiri said: “I am glad to be present at the Iranian cinema ceremony. This is really an exceptional night with people like Dowlatabadi, Manouchehr Esmaili and Abdollah Eskandari. We all miss the presence of the person we all love, that is Mohammad Reza Shajarian.” After expressing the features of the statuette which was done by Merila Zarei in a satiric form, finally Modiri announced the name of the winner: Reza Attaran who came on the stage to receive his prize. Attaran said: “I am glad I am receiving my prize from Modiri and Ms. Zarei. We are indebted to Modiri for the happy hour program”. And Modiri said: “Reza certainly deserves this prize and I hope he makes greater progress.”

The 13th moment of the ceremony was devoted to Houshang Moradi Kermani, the writer of stories for children.
  
Amin Tarokh and Kambuzia Partovi presented the statuette of merit of the Iranian cinema ceremony and diploma of honor for best adapted screenplay to Bahram Tavakoli for the film “Here Without Me”. Tarokh said: “This is a very exceptional night and I want you all to stand up in honor of Manouchehr Esmaili. After the applause of the participants the prize for this section of the ceremony was presented to Bahram Tavakoli for the script of the film “Here Without Me”.
The presence of Mahmoud Dolatabadi and Farhad Towhidi on the stage for the presentation of the prize for best original screenplay was met with enthusiastic applause by the audience which reached its climax when the name of Asghar Farhadi was announced as the winner of the prize for the script of “Nader and Simin: a Separation”. After presetting the prize to Farhadi, Dolatabadi said: “This is a beautiful night, and I am glad to both old and new friends here. Some of us have grown old, and some are still doing fine. When I was invited to the ceremony I guessed that I would have to talk and I prepared a text.” In the text he referred to decisive moments in the history of the Iranian cinema and exceptional filmmakers.  He mentioned Sohrab Shahid-Saless, as the first innovative filmmaker in the Iranian cinema, as well as Abbas Kiarostami, Amir Naderi, Naser Taqvai, Bahram Beizai, and others. The author of “Kalider” talked about Farhadi, saying: “And now with a thoughtful passion, I wish great future for Farhadi. I hope he will think carefully about his work and realize that his film presents a delicate balance between the opposites in the Iranian cinema. He is treading the middle ground between the art film and the popular cinema. Progressing in the middle ground is a wise advice from our great epic poet Abolqasem Ferdowsi, And it is certainly not an easy path to follow.”
Farhadi said that he had returned from Germany specifically to attend the ceremony. “Yesterday morning I had no idea that I would be here tonight. But I managed to be here with the help of my friends in the cinema. And now seeing the people who have gathered here and after what Mr. Dolatabadi has said I don’t feel tired at all. I am delighted to be exonerated by someone whose views provided me with patterns of behavior since my adolescence. He exonerated me from the charge of having judged the society from a high point of view. This was a magnanimous act on the part of Mr. Dowlatabadi. After tonight I will return to Berlin with greater energy.”
After devoting the 14th moment of the ceremony to Amir Naderi, Kiumars Pourahmad and Hossein Yari presented the statuette of merit of the Iranian cinema ceremony and diploma of honor for best direction to Asghar Farhadi.
Pourahmad said:  “A few nights ago I was room-mate with Habib Ahmadzadeh who is suffering slightly form the effects of the chemical weapon. In the middle of the night I heard Ahmadzadeh breathing with difficulty. This is part of the hardships of life of our wounded war veterans”. About Farhadi he said: “When Farhadi made the films `Dance in the Mist’ and `The Beautiful City’ I wrote an article saying that he would become a great filmmaker, and now my prediction has been realized. He is not only one of the great directors in Iran; he is admired as a great filmmaker all over the world.”
And Farhadi said: “I saw Amir Naderi’s picture and that reminded me that we had been together for a few days just a few weeks ago. So I thought I should make a mention of a filmmaker of my own generation, and I have decided to donate the cash prize accompanying my award to the director of `Wooden Pistols’”
Abolhassan Davoudi, Mohammad Ali Najafi and Mohammad Mehdi Asgarpour presented the statuette of merit and diploma of honor of the Iranian cinema ceremony for best film to Asghar Farhadi for the film “Nader and Simin” a Separation”, and Davoudi said: “The presence of the three of us here means a lot. This means the family of filmmakers may act with different preferences in different editions of the ceremony. But on basic principles we stand together to the last moment of our life. I am glad I presented this prize to Asghar Farhadi.”
The ceremony concluded with an orchestral performance conducted by Shahrdad Rohani, and vocal accompaniment by Mehran Modiri, and performance of the song “O Iran” with the presence of Merila Zarei, Hegameh Qaziani, Kourosh Tahami, Masoud Rayegan, Hassan Pourshirazi and Saber Abr.

The especial features of the ceremony were:
-Suitable lighting of the Masoudiyeh building
-Innovations such as making video-clips, devoting moment to filmmakers
-Offering fruits and candles on the small pond in front of the Masoudiyeh building
-Preparing proper positions for wounded veterans of the 8-year imposed war.