TEHRAN – “The Gambler” has won awards for best director and best film in the short film section of the 17th Iran Cinema Celebration.

The winners of the short film section of the celebration were announced during a ceremony at Tehran’s Eyvan-e Shams Hall on Tuesday.

Editor Puyan Sholevar and screenwriter Karim Lakzadeh received honorary diplomas for their collaborations in the production, which was directed by Karim Lakzadeh.

Produced by the Shiraz branch of the Iranian Young Cinema Society, the film’s story is set in a mountainous village in Iran where an aged gambler is knocked unconscious and his money is stolen. He is later taken to his old house and is buried in the yard under a tree. At midnight two other young gamblers bet the old gambler is alive and uncover the ground to find out the truth.

In a short speech before the winners were presented with the awards, the secretary of the celebration Homayun Asadian, who is also the director of the acclaimed movie “Copper and Gold”, said that he has made a few short films that were not good.


“I must admit that I cannot make short films. We should not forget that short films have separate identities,” he added.

The ceremony continued with the presentation of the Iranian Short Film Association (ISFA) Award to the celebrated director and writer Bahram Beizai, who currently lives in Canada.

The award was symbolically given to Beizai on stage by filmmaker Kianush Ayyari and set designer Iraj Raminfar. In a short music video Beizai expressed his thanks to the organizers.

Raminfar expressed hope there would be better conditions for Beizia to encourage him to return home to make films.

ISFA awards were previously granted to filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, Nasser Taqvai and Kianush Ayyari.

Photo: “The Gambler” director Karim Lakzadeh (R) receives his award from filmmaker Mohsen Amiryusefi during the 17th Iran Cinema Celebration at Tehran’s Eyvan-e Shams Hall on September 1, 2015. Actor Amin Tarokh is also seen in the photo. (Mehr/Masud Saki)

RM/YAW
END