The 36th edition of the Fajr International Film Festival, the longest-running film event in the Middle East, announced its winners last week. 

Milko Lazarov's Aga [+lee también:
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entrevista: Milko Lazarov
ficha de la película], a co-production between Bulgaria, Germany and France, won the Best Film Award. Presented out of competition at the 2018 Berlinale, Aga is a story of both elderly love and a dying way of life. The screenplay, written by Lazarov together with Simeon Ventsislalov, explores the wild, frigid North, where husband Nanook (Mikhail Aprosimov) and wife Sedna (Feodosia Ivanova) live on the permafrost. It is an arduous life, and it becomes harder as we soon find out that game and fish are increasingly hard to come by. The couple also talk about an unpardonable deed by their daughter Ága (Galina Tikhonova), who is now working in a diamond mine. 

The festival jury handed three other prizes to European flicks. The Best Director Award went to Aleksei German Jr for the Russian-Polish-Serbian co-production Dovlatov [+lee también:
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entrevista: Milan Maric
ficha de la película], Best Actor was bestowed upon Leon Lucev for his turn in Hanna Slak’s The Miner [+lee también:
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entrevista: Hanna Slak
ficha de la película] (Slovenia/Germany), while the Special Jury Prize was given to cinematographer Richard Kendrick for his work on Pat Collins’ Song of Granite [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], a co-production between Ireland and Canada.

In attendance during the closing ceremony were Iranian Culture Minister Abbas Salehi, head of the Cinema Organization of Iran Mohammad Mehdi Heidarian, and a host of prominent Iranian and foreign filmmakers and actors, including Oliver Stone, Reza Kianian and Oliver Montagon, plus many other cinema professionals.

Here is the full list of winners in the international competition:

Best Film
Aga [+lee también:
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entrevista: Milko Lazarov
ficha de la película] – Milko Lazarov (Bulgaria/Germany/France)

Best Director
Aleksei German Jr – Dovlatov [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Milan Maric
ficha de la película] (Russia/Poland/Serbia)

Best Script
Ramtin Lavafi – Hattrick (Iran)

Best Actor
Leon Lucev - The Miner [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Hanna Slak
ficha de la película] (Slovenia/Germany)

Best Actress
Mahoor Alvand – Hattrick

Special Jury Prize
Richard Kendrick (cinematographer) – Song of Granite [+lee también:
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tráiler
ficha de la película] (Ireland/Canada)

Best Short Film
Faith – Tatiana Fedorovskaya (Russia)
Special Mention
Mr. Deer – Mojtaba Mousavi (Iran)