Award named after veteran Iranian director to be presented to the best experimental film.
This year’s Hafez Awards, the biggest cinema and television event in Iran, will introduce a special Abbas Kiarostami award for the best experimental short film.
The 22nd edition of the Hafez Awards, presented by Picture World Magazine (Donyaye Tassvir) and directed and produced by filmmakers Omid Moallem and Azar Memarian, is scheduled to be held later this year. In addition to rewarding Iran’s mainstream cinema and television, the awards spotlight Iran’s independent cinema as well. The introduction of the Abbas Kiarostami award is their latest initiative aimed at encouraging experimental cinema.
Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, who passed away in 2016, is recognised as one of the most important directors of the past 20 years with classics such as Close-Up, Taste of Cherry and The Wind Will Carry Us. Kiarostami won over 70 awards, including the Palme d’Or at Cannes.
Hafez Awards, initiated in 1997, also known as Donyaye Tassvir Awards are the only non-governmental ceremony among the cinematic festivals and awards held in Iran. In recent years, the works of Iranian cinematographers such as Hamid Nematollah, Shahram Mokri, Saeed Roostaei, Peyman Maadi, Nima Javidi and many other influential Iranian cinema icons have been welcomed in the Awards. Jury members of Hafez consists of writers and critics of Donyaye Tassvir, who review the works shown throughout the year.
