High-ranking officials including Iranian Minister of Health and Medical Education Saeid Namaki, Ravayat-e Fath (Tale of Victory) Cultural Foundation Mohammad-Yashar Naderi, senior Iranian composer Majid Entezami, head of the festival Mehdi Azimi-Mirabadi, and martyrs’ families and mass media reporters were present at the ceremony, wrote moqavematfilmfest.ir.

Addressing the ceremony, Azimi-Mirabadi underscored that art plays a key role in influencing the audience.

He added that so far over 9,000 works from 180 countries were submitted to the secretariat of the event, of which 3,700 works are from the US, the UK, France, India and Palestine.

Hailing the zealous efforts of the organizers of the festival, Azimi-Mirabadi noted this prestigious international cinematic event was eventually held amid the spread of the coronavirus.

Azimi-Mirabadi said the event was highly welcomed by a huge number of Iranian artists and the public.

The Best Video Clip award went to ‘Holol’ by Farid Farkhondeh-Kish, and the Best Animation award was presented to ‘Dark City’ by Amir Mehran.

‘All Maryams’ by Ammar Khatti and ‘A letter from Damascus’ by Abbas Imanian received Best Short Fiction and Best Short Documentary awards, respectively.

Reza Farahmand’s ‘Women with Gun Powdered Earrings’ won the Best Feature-Length Documentary Film award.

‘Survivor,’ by Seifollah Daad, received the Cinema Section award of the Festival of Festivals.

In the Health Defenders section, ‘Coronavirus’ by Pouya Raeisi received the Motion Graphics award.

The Video Clips award went to ‘One Day Again,’ directed by Mohajer Tohid-Parast. ‘The Savior,’ by Arjun Mukherjee from India, won the Best Animation award of this section.

Best Short Fiction and Best Short Documentary awards were given to ‘Last Meeting,’ by Mohsen Mashreqi, and ‘In the Silence of the Night,’ by Amir Hossein Mirsaberi, respectively.

Inaugurated on Sept. 21, the festival was wrapped up on Sept. 27, coinciding with the Sacred Defense Week, covering the sections: “Health Defenders”; and from November 21 to 27, in the sections: “Main Competition,” “Resistance Prominent Martyr – Special Section,” “Best Film Competition in Absolute Sense” and “Narrations of Pen – Scriptwriting Competition.”

Riahi’s 13-minute film narrates the story of Bahareh, who, according to Iranian law, must have her husband accompany her during driving lessons so that she and her instructor are not left alone together without a third party presence, IRNA wrote.

The film’s cast members include Linda Kiani, Alireza Sanifar, Salar Khamseh, and Sanaz Mesbah.

The ‘Driving Lessons’ has already participated in more than 60 international film festivals and won 10 awards.

The film won the best short film at the 22nd edition of the Religion Today Film Festival in Trento, Italy, the best non-Irish short award at the Dublin Feminist Film Festival in Ireland, the Golden Apricot for best short film at the 16th Golden Apricot International Film Festival in Yerevan, Armenia, the Special Jury Award at the 13th Film Festival for Women’s Rights (FIWOM) in South Korea, and best short drama at the 13th edition of the ‘I Will Tell International Film Festival’ in London.

Established in 1996, the AIWFF supports the advancement of women in society by providing a platform to promote international exchange between women.

The festival hosts female directors, both amateur and professional, and holds guest talks to exchange views.

Naji won the Silver Bear Award for best actor at the 58th Berlin International Film Festival for his role in director Majid Majidi’s ‘The Song of Sparrows.’

It was the second time that Reza Naji had to fight colorectal cancer.

Fortunately, he could beat the disease after having surgery and 12 rounds of chemotherapy, ifilmtv.com reported.

Born in 1942, Naji dreamed of becoming an actor from an early age that made him take part in various street plays.

It was Majid Majidi’s acclaimed movie, ‘Children of Heaven,’ which brought Naji nationwide fame, and later he appeared in several movies, including ‘The Birth of a Butterfly’ and ‘Baran.’

In 2007, he starred in another Majidi film, entitled, ‘The Song of Sparrows,’ and delivered an astonishing performance which brought him worldwide fame and won him several nominations and awards.

Among his achievements are: Nomination for best actor award at the first Iran Cinema Celebration for ‘Children of Heaven,’ nomination for best actor in a supporting role at the 19th Fajr International Film Festival for ‘Baran,’ and the special jury award at the 22nd Fajr International Film Festival for ‘Him.’

Directed by Hamidreza Qotbi, the film will make its international debut at the competition section of the 25th edition of the German festival, according to ifilmtv.com.

Qotbi’s film features Afshin Hashemi, Behnaz Naderi, and the child actress Aylin Rashidian.

Co-written by Behrouz Rashad and Hamidreza Qotbi, ‘That Night’s Train’ is an adaptation of a novel by Ahmad Akbarpour.

The film is about a little girl who meets a female writer when she is on a train. The writer promises to call and visit her later. The promise, in the writer’s mind, is just a theme for her new story, thus embarking on a merge of fantasy with reality.

‘That Night’s Train’ was nationally premiered as the opening film of the 49th Roshd International Film Festival in Iran.

The SCHLINGEL International Film Festival is an annual film event for children and young adult audiences.

The first screening of ‘When the Moon Was Full’, also its first international debut, was on November 23, and the second was on November 25, both of which were received well by Estonian audiences. It is scheduled to go on screen for the third time on November 30.

The film’s director, Abyar, actor Hootan Shakiba, and producer Mohammad-Hossein Qassemi attended the screenings and took part in the question-and-answer sessions.

The film is slated to compete with seven other films, including ‘Girl with No Mouth,’ by Can Evrenol from Turkey; ‘Gutterbee,’ by Ulrich Thomsen from Denmark; ‘Monster,’ by Tom Sullivan from Ireland; and ‘Through Black Glass,’ by Konstantin Lopushansky from Russia.

‘When the Moon Was Full’ tells the story of a woman from Tehran who marries a man from an Iranian province near the border of Pakistan. Soon after, she discovers that her new brother-in-law is a religious extremist trying to recruit her husband for his bloody cause.

The love story had its premiere in Tehran during February at the 37th Fajr Film Festival where it won the Crystal Simorgh for best film and Abyar was named best director.

In addition, the movie won Hootan Shakiba the award for best actor, while Elnaz Shakerdoost was crowned best actress for her role in the film.

In 2016, the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival honored Abyar with the award for best director for her ‘Breath’.

The 2019 edition of the festival opened on November 15 and will run until December 1.