TEHRAN -- Winners of the second edition of the Gol Aqa Comedy Film Festival were announced at the Arikeh Iranian Complex on Tuesday.

The festival is named after the Iranian satirical magazine established by the late Kiumars Saberi.
It began with a screening of an interview with Iranian footballer Khodadad Azizi who was honored for his efforts in bringing together sports and satire.
Afterward, a special tribute was paid to veteran Iranian actor Saeid Pursamimi for his life time achievements in comedy films.
“As the human being needs satire individually, so does the society. The late artists Ata’ollah Zahed and Parviz Fannizadeh helped me improve in my career and I always have considered them as highly influential persons in my life,” Pursamimi mentioned.
He also expressed his satisfaction in the holding of the second edition of the festival and hoped that such festivals would improve the state of comedy films in Iranian cinema.
At the ceremony, Iranian actress Sorayya Qasemi who co-starred with Saeid Pursamimi in Hamid Samandarian’s celebrated play “Andorra” in 1968, recalled her role in the play as one of the best experiences of her career.
Satirist Manuchehr Ehterami was honored in the Satire Book Section of the festival. Actress Roya Teimurian, children’s author Hushang Moradi Kermani and actor Reza Kianian presented him with an award.
Actor Morteza Ahmadi performed a piece of music with the tombak during the event that was warmly received by the audience.
Veteran director Marzieh Borumand was recognized for her activities as a TV director of satire.
She directed several satirical TV series including “City of Mice,” “Hotel” and “Ziba Barbershop.”
From among the participating films, awards were presented in the categories of best actor, actress director, screenwriter and producer.
Davud Rashidi, Farhad Tohidi, Giti Safarzadeh, Mohammad Rafi’ei-Ziaii and Fatemeh Motamed-Arya were the members of the jury.
The Best Screenwriter Award went to Asqar Farhadi for “Tambourine,” and Reza Attaran received the Best Actor Award.
Jaleh Sameti received the Best Actress Award, and Seyyed Jamal Sadatian received the Best Producer Award.
Kamal Tabrizi was presented with the Best Director Award for his recent film “Look for the Woman.”
“I believe that the cineastes who are active in the comedy genre have many problems themselves but try to overcome them by means of the comedy films they produce”, Tabrizi mentioned during the gala.
Photo: Veteran actor Saeid Pursamimi receives one of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the 2nd Gol Aqa Comedy Film Festival from actress Sorayya Qasemi during the award presentation of the event at Tehran’s Arikeh Iranian Complex on October 21, 2008. (Mehr/Baqer Nasir)