The 2021 FIFF winners have been announced. This is the place to be to see who won big at the 38th Fajr International Film Festival.

The curtain fell on this year’s hybrid edition, presided over by Mohammad Mehdi Asgarpour, on Wednesday, 2 June. Charsou Cineplex hosted the virtual closing ceremony at 11:30 am Tehran local time. The most anticipated moments of the awards ceremony included a statement by Director Asgarpour.

Addressing the ceremony, Festival Director said: As you know, due to the global pandemic we had to cancel last year’s festival. We watched closely other festivals and gained valuable experiences along the way. In fact, we also played a part in garnering these health guidelines for others to follow. They helped us organize this year’s hybrid festival – part in-person participation and part virtual.

The award-winning director and screenwriter added: We had over 300 film screening programs as well, while following social distancing measures and health protocols. The number of in-person audiences in different sections were high. It’s very important and valuable that we could organize the festival amid restrictions.

The winners of this year’s festival received their awards online. The festival ran from May 26 to June 2.

Here are the winners:

International Competition

Best Film

Natural Light directed by Denis Nagy, produced by Inese Boka-Grube, Caroline Piras, Melanie Blocksdorf (Hungary, Latvia, France, Germany)

Best Director

Denis Cote for Social Hygiene (Canada)

Best Actress

Laura Birn for Helene (Finland, Estonia)

Best Actor

Hamid Farokhnejad for Major (Iran)

Best Script

Ferit Karahan, Gulistan Acet for Brother’s Keeper (Turkey, Romania)

Best Short Film

The White Wall by Andrea Brusa, Marco Scotuzzi (Italy)

Special Mention for Short Film

Emergency by Maryam Esmikhani (Iran)

International Competition Jury (Cinema Salvation)

Mirjana Karanovic (Serbia), Brillante Ma Mendoza (Philippines), Laila Pakalnina (Latvia), Elma Tataragic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Morten Kaufmann (Denmark), Fatemeh Motamed-Arya (Iran), Shahram Mokri (Iran)

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Eastern Vista

Best Asian Film

Asteroid by Mahdi Hosseinivand Alipour (Iran)

Best Director

Alireza Samadi for Staging (Iran)

Best Script

Ameen Nayfeh for 200 Meters (Jordan, Palestine Qatar, Sweden, Italy)

Best Actress

Leetae- Gyeom for I Don’t Fire Myself (Korea)

Outstanding Achievement – Cinematographer of the film

Cao Jinling for Anima (China)

Best Short Film

Bethlehem 2001 by Ebrahim Handal (Palestine)

Eastern Vista Jury (Panorama of Films from Asian and Islamic Countries)

Fatma AL-Remaihi (Qatar), Diana Ashimova (Kazakhstan), Marina Gulbahari (Afghanistan), Mahmut Fazil Coskun (Turkey), Mastaneh Mohajer (Iran)

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First Film Award

Botox by Kaveh Mazaheri (Iran, Canada)

First Film Jury

Dina Iordanova (Bulgaria), Loreta Gandolfi (Italy), Morteza Farshbaf (Iran)

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Muhammad Al-Ameen Award

Fear by Ivaylo Hristov (Bulgaria)

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Interfaith Award

The Dogs Didn’t Sleep Last Night by Ramin Rasouli (Afghanistan)

Interfaith Jury

Magali Van Reeth (France), Magimai Pragasam (India), Habib Reza Arzani (Iran)

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Fipresci Award

200 Meters by Ameen Nayfeh (Jordan, Palestine Qatar, Sweden, Italy)

Fipresci Jury

Aylin Tasciyan (Turkey), Giovanni Vimercati (Italy), Omid Roohani (Iran)

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NETPAC Award

Major by Ehsan Abdipour (Iran)

NETPAC Jury

Italo Spinelli (Italy), Anne Demy Geroe (Australia), Farhad Tohidi (Iran)