TEHRAN - The 2024 Iranian drama romance television miniseries “At the End of the Night” directed by Ida Panahandeh has won two awards from the 40th Valencia International Film Festival - Cinema Jove, which was held in Spain from June 19 to 28.

In its second international presence after the Series Mania festival in France in March, where it won the award for Best Directing, the Iranian series was selected for the Official Series Section of the festival and received the Jury Mentions for Best Actor and Best Actress for Parsa Pirouzfar and Hoda Zeinolabedin, respectively, IRNA reported.

Written and produced by the real-life creative couple Panahandeh and Arsalan Amiri, the nine-episode series delicately and skillfully dissects the separation of a couple shattered by the disillusionment of their social situation.

After a decade of economic austerity, a middle-class couple has managed to buy an apartment on the outskirts of Tehran – but financial issues and the traps of married life catch them, and they must now face the consequences of their separation: divorce, and everything that it implies.

A powerful and bitter reflection on the sacrifices of a life together, the Iranian miniseries stands out for its deeply authentic characters and the exceptional performances of its two lead actors, Parsa Pirouzfar and Hoda Zeinolabedin.

The other cast members include Rayan Sarlak, Alireza Davoudnezhad, Reza Behboudi, Ehteram Boroumand, Siamak Safari, Kazem Hajirazad, and Nahid Moslemi, among others.

Parsa Pirouzfar, 52, is an actor, theater director, painter, playwright, and translator. He has received various accolades, including the Best Actor Award in the Osian’s Cinefan Festival of Asian Cinema in India and an Iran Cinema Celebration Award, in addition to nominations for a Crystal Simorgh and three Hafez Awards.

A graduate of painting from the University of Tehran, he made his film debut by playing a brief part in Dariush Mehrjui’s “Pari” in 1994.

He has played in over 40 films, plays, and TV series. His most famous films include “Sheida,” “Mum's Guest,” “MasK,” “Here Without Me,” “TiTi,” and “Intoxicated by Love”. He is also known for the series “In the Eyes of the Wind,” “Rebel,” “Under Your Protection,” “In My Heart,” and “The Green Journey”.

Pirouzfar made his directional debut in theater in 2001 with “Art,” a play by Yasmina Reza. In 2015, he directed the play “Matryoshka,” a Persian-language satire based on selected short stories of Anton Chekhov. Matryoshka first premiered at Theater West in Los Angeles. A solo performance, the play had over 30 characters, all performed by Pirouzfar in its theatrical production. “Matryoshka” subsequently ran for two years in the U.S. cities of Los Angeles, San Diego, and Berkeley as well as Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal in Canada in 2015 and 2016; and finally, after multiple performances due to its immense popularity, finished its staging in Tehran, Iran, in 2017.

“Matryoshka” earned Pirouzfar the Golden Statue Award for Best Actor in the 35th Celebration of the Fajr International Theater Festival in Tehran in 2017.

Hoda Zeinolabedin, 36, is an Iranian actress. She has received various accolades, including a Hafez Award, in addition to nominations for two Crystal Simorghs and an Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association Award.

Zeinolabedin has performed in 23 films and series in the past 13 years. She has starred in the movies “Esrafil” by Ida Panahandeh and “Cold Sweat” by Soheil Beyraqi. She has also appeared in the TV series “Dance on Glass” by Mehdi Golestane and the “Rhinoceros” By Kiarash Asadzade. She is also active as a photographer. 

The Valencia International Film Festival – Cinema Jove is a festival that takes place annually in Valencia in June. It is accredited by the FIAPF in the category of “Specialized Competitive Festivals”.

The festival is a forum for young international filmmakers to meet, and its vocation is to showcase the best international cinema directed by young people.

Photo: Hoda Zeinolabedin (L) and Parsa Pirouzfar in a scene from “At the End of the Night”

SS/SAB