Narges Abyar Archives - Iran News Daily

Iranian director Narges Abyar named honorary professor at Xi’an Jiaotong University

mahla — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 12:47:15 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iranian director Narges Abyar has been named an honorary professor at Xi’an Jiaotong University in China.

Director of the acclaimed Iranian dramas “Track 143” and “When the Moon Was Full” attended a meeting with a number of theater and film students at the university, answering their questions on various fields of cinema and theater, some Persian news websites announced on Tuesday.

She also held a master class on breaking new ground in filmmaking at the university and visited different departments of the university.

Earlier in July, Abyar was invited by the Chinese ambassador to Tehran, Chang Hua, to China to collaborate on a joint film project about the Silk Road.

The title of honorary professor of the Xi’an Jiaotong University was also conferred upon Iranian cultural activist Hossein Khalifi at the same time.

Recent recipients of the title included Professor Farhad Rachidi, Nobel Prize laureates Martin J. Evans, David J. Gross and Robert C. Richardson.

Abyar’s achievements have also been acknowledged by several other organizations across the world.

The Governor’s House in the Pakistani city of Karachi honored Abyar with the HUM Women Leaders Award in 2020.

The HUM Women Leaders Award is presented to female achievers from Pakistan and abroad by the HUM Network Limited, a global entertainment and news network, and one of the largest broadcasting brands with a strong following among the South Asia diaspora around the world.

She has been a jury member for several international film festivals, including the 6th Herat International Women’s Film Festival organized in the Afghan city last November.

Her 2019 drama “When the Moon Was Full” was screened at many international festivals and won awards, including the grand prize of the 2nd Carcassonne International Political Film Festival in France and the audience award at the 23rd Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia.

Photo: Director Narges Abyar (L) and cultural activist Hossein Khalifi (R) pose with an unidentified person after being decorated with the title of honorary professor of the Xi’an Jiaotong University.

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Pakistan to award Iran Narges Abyar

reporter 1222 — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 11:38:41 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Prominent director Narges Abyar of Iran is to be honored at the international section of the Women Leaders Award in Pakistan today.

The Hum Network Limited, a Pakistani media company, is slated to award Iranian filmmakers, IRNA reported.

Narges Abyar has won several awards from many national and international film festivals, including the Best Director award for ‘Breath’ at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia, and the Best Audience award for ‘When the Moon Was Full,’ which also won six awards at the 37th Fajr Film Festival in Iran.

The social activist, gender expert and author Fouzia Saeed, and Human rights lawyer Jalila Haider will be also honored.

Hum Network Limited was established in February 2004 and is one of the largest broadcasting brands with a strong following among the South Asia diaspora around the world. It is also a member of the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union.

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‘When the Moon Was Full’ highly praised at Estonia’s Tallinn festival

reporter 1222 — Tue, 26 Nov 2019 11:09:08 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iranian filmmaker Narges Abyar’s award-winning drama, ‘When the Moon Was Full,’ was screened in the official competition of Estonia’s 23rd Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival and received an enthusiastic welcome from Estonian film fans.

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.

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Narges Abyar wins Leading Figure of the Year title

reporter 1222 — Sun, 11 Aug 2019 06:10:16 +0000

The awarding ceremony for the 2nd edition of Cinema Cinema Academy Awards, Iran’s first private film academy, was held at Tehran’s Enghelab Hotel on Saturday night.

The winners received the Mehrgiah (mandrake) award, a mythical plant and the symbol of fertility, love and unity in Iranian culture. The bronze award represents a mandrake with five leaves placed on a rock-shaped stand.

The Leading Figure of the Year title went to Narges Abyar, whose latest drama ‘When the Moon Was Full’ had won the Crystal Simorgh for best film and other top awards for its cast and crew at the 37th Fajr International Film Festival in 2019.

She was competing for the title with other filmmakers including Mohsen Amiryusefi, Bahram Tavakkoli, Saeid Rustai, Hooman Seyyedi and Reza Mirkarimi, as well as actors Navid Mohammadzadeh, Javad Ezzati and Ali Nasirian.

The best actress award went to Zahra Davoudnejad for her performance in ‘No. 17 Soheila’, directed by Mahmoud Ghaffari.

The Mehrgiah award for best actor went to Navid Mohammadzadeh for his role in ‘Sheeple’, directed by Hooman Seyyedi.

‘Sheeple’ is about brothers Shakur and Shahin, two lowlifes who run a crystal meth laboratory hidden in Tehran. They do care about the honor of their family, however. When a video of their sister revealing her hair ends up on the internet, the brothers become the protagonists of some strange incidents.

‘Sheeple’ also received the best director award for Hooman Seyyedi, as well as the best film award, presented to the producer Saeid Sa’di.

Mohsen Amiryousefi received the best script award for ‘Lovely Trash’, and Pouya Badkoubeh won the first-time filmmaker award for ‘Dressage’.

The Cinema Cinema Academy Awards can be considered as the Iranian equivalent of the Oscars.

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Abyar’s ‘Night of the Full Moon’ rakes in Iran’s major cinematic awards

reporter 1222 — Tue, 12 Feb 2019 07:01:59 +0000

The 37th Fajr Film Festival, Iran’s major cinematic event, named winners during a closing ceremony on Mon. evening, with Narges Abyar’s ‘Night of the Full Moon’ winning as many as six main awards.

Fajr Film Festival is the most important, most anticipated and longest-running cinematic event of Iran, which was founded in 1983 and is organized every year by Farabi Cinema Foundation under the supervision of the ministry of culture.

The festival this year, in its 37th run, had an interesting line-up, to say the least. From the director of fan-favorite ‘Life and A Day’, Saeed Roustayi – whose latest feature ‘6.5 Each Meter’ starring household names Payman Moadi and Navid Mohammadzadeh won the Audience Award – to ‘Midday Adventures’ sequel, ‘Trace of Blood’, and of course ‘Night of the Full Moon’, the latest film by the female director and screenwriter Narges Abyar, whose successful results with ‘Track 143’ and ‘Breath’ had already raised much expectations about her newest cinematic endeavor.

Last night’s award ceremony directed its spotlight on Abyar’s ‘Night of the Full Moon’ for the most part. The film won Best Director, Best Film, Best Actor (Houtan Shakiba), Best Actress (Elnaz Shakerdoust), Best Supporting Actress (Freshteh Sadr Erfaei), and Best Make-Up (Iman Omidvari) awards.

Narges Abyar, director of ‘Night of the Full Moon’

The film narrates the true story of Abdul-Hamid Rigi, the younger brother of Abdul-Malik Rigi, the founder and leader of the Jundallah terrorist group in southeastern Iran, who marries Faezeh Mansuri, a woman from Tehran. He forces Faezeh to leave her homeland along with her brother to live in Pakistan where they find themselves involved in the Jundallah terrorist activities.

‘Midday Adventures: Trace of Blood’ directed by Mohammad Hossein Mahdavian, was the second most award-winning title of the festival, along with ‘6.5 Each Meter’ and ‘Maskhareh-baz’ (‘Doofus’). The sequel to ‘Midday Adventures’ won Best Special Effects (Iman Kariman), Best Costume Design (Mohammadreza Shojaee), and Best Sound Mixing (Mehrshad Malakouti).

‘6.5 Each Meter’ by Saeed Roustayi, meanwhile, won the Best Audience award. It also won the Best Sound Editing (Iraj Shahzadi), and Best Editing (Bahram Dehghani) awards.

‘Maskhareh-baz’ by Amir Homayoun Ghanizadeh also won three awards for Best Visual Effects (Javad Motouri), Best Supporting Actor (Ali Nasirian), and Best Art and Best Experimental Film awards.

Ali Nasirian, holding the Crystal Simorgh for Best Supporting Actor in ‘Maskhareh-baz’

Other winners of the 37th Fajr Film Festival include ‘Gholamreza Takhti’ by Ali Hatami and Behrouz Afkhami (Best Scenic Design and Best Cinematography), ‘Qasr-e Shirin’ by Reza Mirkarimi (Best Film Score and Best Script), ‘The Warden’ by Nima Javidi (Special Jury Award), ‘The Last Fiction’ by Ashkan Rahgozar (Best Animation), ‘Baharestan: House of Nation’ by Babak Behdad (Best Documentary) and ‘Pedovore’ by Mohammad Kart (Best Short Film Award).

‘Maskhareh-baz’ also won the best film award in the ‘New Vision’ section of the festival.

The 37th Fajr Film Festival ran from 1–11 February 2019 at a number of major venues in capital Tehran and some metropolitan cities across the country.

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