TEHRAN – The cast and crew of “A Few Cubic Meters of Love” were the happiest people at the 17th Iran Cinema Celebration on Friday night as the acclaimed drama about migration and love won awards in eight categories including best film and best director.

Tehran-based Afghan producer Navid Mahmudi received the best film award and his brother, Jamshid Mahmudi, was presented with the best director award during a glittering open-air ceremony held in the courtyard of Masudieh Edifice, a Tehran Qajar era monument.

“I’m happy that I received the award from the Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi,” Navid stated in his acceptance speech.

He said that he got into Iranian cinema with contributions from Iranian director Rakhshan Bani-Etemad and added, “I’m happy that I was raised in Iranian cinema.”

“It’s great honor for me to receive this award from Iranian cinema,” Jamshid said.

Jamshid Mahmudi, who is also the writer of the drama, won the award for best screenwriter. He also was awarded the New Talent prize, which is presented to a first-time film director.

The story of the film is set somewhere in the outskirts of Tehran, where a small factory illegally employs Afghan asylum seekers who live with their families in old shipping containers or modest shacks in nearby shanty towns. Saber, a young Iranian worker, secretly meets Marona, daughter of Abdossalam, an Afghan worker. A love story unfolds.

Saed Soheili received the award for best actor for the portrayal of Saber while Nader Fallah won the best supporting actor for playing the role of Abdossalam.

Soheili was awarded by actors Rambod Javand and Fatemeh Motamed-Arya. He planted a kiss on the trophy.

The award for best editor went to Sepideh Abdolvahhab for her collaboration in “A Few Cubic Meters of Love”, which was the Afghan entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards in 2015.

The film also brought Abtin Barqi the best set designer award.

The best actress award was presented to Merila Zarei for her role in “Track 143”, about a great maternal sacrifice during the Iran-Iraq war.

The best supporting actress award went to Pantea Panahiha for her role in “Acrid”, directed by Kiarash Asadizadeh on the inner feelings of different couples suffering from discordances to infidelity.

Homayun Payvar received the award for best cinematographer for his collaboration in “What’s the Time in Your World” directed by Safi Yazdanian.

The film also won Amir-Hossein Qasemi the award for best special sound effect designer and Iraj Raminfar the award for best costume designer.

The award for best composer went to Christophe Rezai for director Shahram Mokri’s acclaimed drama “Fish and Cat”. Parviz Abnar won the award for best sound recording engineer for his collaboration in the film.

The best makeup artist award went to Saeid Malekan for “Sperm Whale”.

The Iran Cinema Celebration is organized every year by the Iranian House of Cinema, which is the guild of Iranian cineastes.

The organizers also celebrated the 100th birthday of actor Parviz Shahinkhu this year.

The ceremony ended with a concert by Dang Show, a band that performs a fusion of pop and traditional Iranian music.

Photo: Jamshid Mahmudi holds the award for best director that he received for “A Few Cubic Meters of Love” during the 17th Iran Cinema Celebration at Tehran’s Masudieh Edifice on September 11, 2015. (Tasnim/Hamed Malekpur)

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