TEHRAN -- The winners of the international section of the first edition of the Islamic Unity International Film Festival were honored during the opening ceremony of the 30th edition of the International Islamic Unity Conference in Tehran on Thursday.

The awards were presented to the winners by President Hassan Rouhani and Ayatollah Mohsen Araki, secretary general of the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought, Persian media reported on Saturday.

“3000 Nights” by Mai Masri (Lebanon) received the best director award and “Decaying and Vanishing” by Najdat Ismael Anzour (Syria) received the best film award. The film also brought the best screenplay award for Diana Kamaleddin.

“The Kingdom of Solomon” by Shahriar Bahrani from Iran won the award for best art and technical achievement.

Haicha Ladrouz director of “Hope in the Bottle” (France) won the best director award in the long documentary category, and the best long documentary award was presented to “Clouds Are Coming” by Mohammad-Ali Farsi from Iran.

15 films were competing in the international competition section.

The festival, dedicated to screening films promoting unity among Muslims, has been organized by Iran’s World Assembly of Islamic Religious Proximity.

Photo: President Hassan Rouhani hands the award to one of the winners of the Islamic Unity International Film Festival on December 15, 2016. 

RM/YAW