43rd Fadjr Theater Festival Opens with Stellar lineup

The opening ceremony of the 43rd Fadjr International Theater Festival was held this evening, January 21, 2025, at the Noor Hayat Hotel in Tehran, Iran Theater reported.

            

 

Many officials and artists attended the opening ceremony including Nadereh Rezaei(Art affair deputy of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance), Atabak Naderi(Head of the General Directorate of Dramatic Arts), Niknam Hosseinpour(Director of Public Relations of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance), Mohammad -Mehdi Ahmadi (Supreme Advisor to the Minister and Director General of the Ministry), Mehdi Mohammadi( Deputy Legal Officer, Parliament and Provincial Affairs), Kheyrollah Taghyanipou( artistic director of Festival), Esrafil Farajollahi(CEO of the Iranian Dramatic Arts Association), Houshang Tavakoli, Akbar Zanjanpour, Behzad Farahani, Sadruddin Zahed, Mohammad Ghods, Fereydoun Mehrabi, Reza Banafshekhah, Davoud Fathali- Beygi, Maryam Motafar, Hedayat Hashemi, Azita Hajian, Parisa Moghtadi, Farzin Mohaddes, Ayoub Aghakhani, Fariba Mesaghe, Farideh Daryamej, Leili Aaj, Amir Hossein Shafiei, Farzaneh Neshatkhah, Mahmoud Pakneiyat, Mahvash Saberkon, Saeed Najafian, Shahram Gilabadi, Hassan Jodaki, Hadi Marzban, Homeira Riazi, Ali Osivand, Saeed Asadi, Amin Ashrafi, Shahram Karami, Shahram Zargar, Ghader Ashena.

 

In the photo section, first place went to Shiva Seraj for the show "24 24", second place to Maryam Ghahramanizadeh for the show "Mayuser", and third place to Mehdi Nasiri for the show "Haft Khan Esfandiar".

 

The ceremony unveiled the "Soldier of the Homeland" medal in memory of the martyred General Hajj Qasem Soleimani. The medal was presented by Kheyrollah Taghiyanipour and Leili Aaj to the family of martyr Seyyed Razi Mousavi.

In the poster section, the winners are as follows: Third place went to Rasoul Haghjoo for the poster for the show "Bijan".

 

Saman Rostami won second place for the poster for the show "I Roll All Mountains" and First place went to Amir Hossein Ebadian for the poster for the play "Bahman".

Arsalan Aghakhani was honored for the poster of the show"Songs of Fever," and Ali Rafiei for designing the poster of "Haqeel and Error 404."

 

In the playwriting section, the first prize, an honorary diploma, and a cash prize were awarded to the play "A Vanishing Elephant" written by Shahrooz Aghaei.

Atosa Rigi won second place for the play "Megh Koshi".Third place went to Behnam Torabi for the play "The Color of Pomegranate."

The special mention also went to Kaveh Mahdavi for his play "Warehouse" in the biography section.

In the Gaza and Palestinian People's Resistance section, the Jury Prize was awarded to the play "No Butterfly Should Die Without a Name," written by Fariba Ghasemzadeh and Mehdi Azari.

In the open category, the winners are: First place went to the play "Tabriz in the Time of Monsieur" by Saber Delbina from Golestan Province, Second place went to "The Identity of Silent Bees" by Mehdi Akbari from Alborz Province, and Third place went to "A Few Wolves at the Wedding of Mother Mahjan" by Reza Gashtasb.

 

After announcing the winners of the festival's playwriting section, the opening ceremony coincided with the birthdays of Akbar Zanjanpour and Behzad Farahani. These two veteran theater artists celebrated their birthdays with cakes and were thus appreciated.