Al-Monitor | Rohollah Faghihi: Iran�s�Fajr International Film Festival�has been an important platform for Iranian, regional and international films for more than three decades. But this year�s edition, which took place April 19-27, proved to be more mediatic and controversial than the previous years. This was partly due to the high-profile participants � in particular Oliver Stone, the American writer and filmmaker whose remarks from Tehran spurred a debate on the liberty of artists in Iran.


Raising the profile of the festival, which was launched in 1982, is one of the main goals of�Reza Mirkarimi, an award-winning Iranian director who took the helm three years ago. Speaking at a press conference April 12, Mirkarimi said that he wanted to boost Fajr�s�international profile and recognition, explaining that he invited the Paris-based International Federation of Film Producers Associations to the festival last year. The move was aimed at getting the federation to accredit the Fajr International Film Festival as a �category A� festival, meaning a �specialized festival� in the same rank as the film festivals in Berlin and Venice.

At the final�award ceremony, the award for best film went to �Aga,� a story about an elderly Inuit couple. Alexey German Jr. received the award for best director for �Dovlatov,� the biography of Russian writer Sergei Dovlatov. Iran�s Mahoor Alvand won the award for best actress and Ramtin Lavafi for best script, both for the psychological drama �Hattrick.�

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