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FESTIVALS Iran

Four awards for European movies at the Fajr International Film Festival

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- Milko Lazarov's Aga has won the Best Film Award at the oldest film festival in the Middle East

Four awards for European movies at the Fajr International Film Festival
Aga by Milko Lazarov

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 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Milko Lazarov
film profile
]
, 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. 

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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 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Milan Maric
film profile
]
, Best Actor was bestowed upon Leon Lucev for his turn in Hanna Slak’s The Miner [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hanna Slak
film profile
]
(Slovenia/Germany), while the Special Jury Prize was given to cinematographer Richard Kendrick for his work on Pat Collins Song of Granite [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, 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 StoneReza Kianian and Oliver Montagon, plus many other cinema professionals.

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

Best Film
Aga [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Milko Lazarov
film profile
]
 – Milko Lazarov (Bulgaria/Germany/France)

Best Director
Aleksei German Jr – Dovlatov [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Milan Maric
film profile
]
 (Russia/Poland/Serbia)

Best Script
Ramtin Lavafi – Hattrick (Iran)

Best Actor
Leon Lucev - The Miner [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hanna Slak
film profile
]
(Slovenia/Germany)

Best Actress
Mahoor Alvand – Hattrick

Special Jury Prize
Richard Kendrick (cinematographer) – Song of Granite [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 (Ireland/Canada)

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

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