The 9th Shahr International Film Festival held its closing ceremony on Thursday, November 13, at the Milad Tower Conference Center in Tehran. The event opened with Quran recitation and Iran’s national anthem, followed by a video presentation highlighting the festival’s activities at Mellat Cinema Complex.
Throughout the ceremony, presenters reflected on recent national hardships and praised filmmakers who have portrayed these experiences in their works. Festival director Maryam Pirkari announced that the Image of the City Institute will produce a new slate of films under the “Tehran Cinema Group” for the next Fajr Film Festival, premiering exclusively at that event.
Veteran actor Jamshid Hashempour was honored with a special tribute, receiving an award presented by festival officials. The ceremony also recognized Serkan Bayram, a member of Turkey’s parliament, for his work supporting people with disabilities.
Awards Summary
Screenwriting:
• Best Short Script: Mother’s Breath – Sasan Pessian
• Best Feature Script Concepts: Shesh Dang – Saberollah Dadian; Night Suite – Ali Jabbarzadeh
Photography:
• Best Photographer: Arvin Salavati
• Special Mentions: Emad Mohammadi, Marzieh Abedini
• Professional Photography: Siamak Zomorodi Motlaq (Winner), Pouya Shahjahani (Runner-up)
Documentary (Short, Mid-length, Feature):
• Best Film: A Thousand and One Nights of the Municipality – Ahmad Sarraf
• Jury Special Award: That Night – Mina Ghasemi-Zowareh & Alireza Dehghan
• Special Social Issues Award: Mama Shokouh’s House – Mehdi Shahmohammadi & Mehdi Bakhshi-Moqaddam
• Faith & Citizenship Award: A Handful of Soil – Nima Mahdian
• Best Research: How Iraq Became Arak
Series Awards:
• Best Private-Platform Script: At the End of the Night – Aida Panahandeh & Arsalan Amiri
• Best TV Series Script: Paytakht – Mohsen Tanabandeh & Arash Abbasi
• Best Actress (Private Platforms): Hoda Zainolabedin (At the End of the Night)
• Best Actor (TV): Saeed Aghakhani (Noon Kh), Mohsen Tanabandeh (Paytakht)
International Section Special Award: Pejman Bazeghi (Yazdan)
• Best Actor (Private Platforms): Alireza Kamali & Shahab Hosseini (Poost-e Shir)
• Best Actress (TV): Rima Raminfar (Paytakht)
• Jury Special Prize: Seyed Maziar Hashemi (Yaghi, producer)
• Best TV Director: Jalil Samaan (Under the Ground)
• Best Home-Series: Poost-e Shir (Producer: Navid Mahmoudi)
• Best TV Series: Under the Ground (Producer: Reza Nasiri-Nia)
• Audience Choice (TV): Paytakht – Elham Ghafouri & Sirous Moghadam
• Audience Choice (Private Platforms): Poost-e Shir – Navid Mahmoudi
Cinema Awards
• Audience Choice Actor: Javad Ezzati (Leather Coat)
• Best Actress (Jury): Sadaf Aspehbodi (Grassland)
• Best Director: Rasul Sadr-Ameli (Call Me Ziba)
• Jury Special Award: Seyed Mostafa Ahmadi (Bi-Badan, producer)
• Special Recognition: The Story of That City – the late Hamid Soheili
• Best Film: Night Guard – Producer Reza Mirkarimi
• Audience Choice Film: Fossil – Producer Ebrahim Amirian
The ceremony also honored the family of infant Rayan Ghasemian, the youngest victim of the recent 12-day conflict, as a symbolic tribute to resilience and loss.
International Section Awards
• Best Director: Ali Tasdighi (Maybe Somewhere Else)
• Best Child Actor: Arsham Jahanpanah (Maybe Somewhere Else)
• Best Actress: Azadeh Samadi (Atisaz)
• Best Actor: Selim Oji (Passing Time, Turkey)
• Best Film: East at Noon – Hala El-Koussi (Egypt)
• Jury Special Award: Blue Silk – Irene Jordania
Actor Hadi Hejazifar was also recognized for his portrayal of a mayor in the film Mogheyyat-e Mahdi.