TEHRAN -- Iranian Short Film Association (ISFA) granted its Jaam-e Jahan-Nama Award to the celebrated, world-renowned Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami on Sunday.

Organizers of the 12th Iran Cinema Celebration held their brief film festival on August 17. The winners of this event were awarded during a ceremony held at the Aseman Art and Cultural Complex.
The spokesman of the House of Cinema, Amin Tarokh, gave the opening address, expressing in it his satisfaction that the 12th celebration would begin with the short film section that indicated the independence of this section.
“All those who have made short films and even those who have not had much of a connection with this category are aware of the fact that cinema must really be made based on short films,” he said.
He added that a total of 318 works were submitted to the secretariat section of the program out of which 40 works were selected.
The ceremony continued with the screening of Kiarostami’s short film “Bread and Alley,” which was filmed by the recently deceased cinematographer Mehrdad Fakhimi.
Later, the first Jaam-e Jahan-Nama award was handed to Kiarostami. Jaam-e Jahan-Nama, also known by several other names such as the Cup of Jamshid and Jaam-e Jam, is a cup of divination that, in Persian mythology, was possessed long ago by the rulers of ancient Persia. The cup was said to be filled with an elixir of immortality and was used in scrying -- magic practice that involves seeing things psychically through a medium. In receiving his award, Kiarostami said, “I was planning to give the award to the actor of the short film ‘Bread and Alley’, but I am happy he did not turn up tonight and so I could receive the award myself!”
Afterwards, filmmakers Kiarostami, Kambuzia Partovi, and Mohammad-Mehdi Asgarpur handed out the awards to the winners.
The best screenplay award went to Dariush Gharibzadeh for “Boomerang”. The best experimental film award went to Shahram Mokri for “Andosi”, and Haydeh Panahandeh took the best short film award for “Cockscomb”.
Honorary awards were also handed out to several winners. Kaveh Qahremani received the soundtrack award for “Dream of Desert”. The cinematography award went to Naqi Nemati for “Frost”, and the editing award went to Kazem Molaii for “Please, Keep Away from the Red Line”.
Photo: Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami leaves the stage after receiving the Jaam-e Jahan-Nama Award, which was presented by the Iranian Short Film Association at the Aseman Art and Cultural Complex on August 17. (ISNA/Arash Khamushi).