Three Nominees Withdraw; Controversies Surrounding the Fajr Film Festival Nominees

Less than 24 hours after the announcement of the nominees for the 35th Fajr Film Festival awards and the intensification of protests regarding the judges' performance, three nominees withdrew from the final judging. On the evening of Monday, February 6, the nominees for the Crystal Simorgh of the 35th Fajr Festival were announced, during which the disregard for certain films in the judging process and the nomination of several films in specific categories sparked numerous protests. The teams of the films 'Khafegi' directed by Fereydoun Jiriani, 'Sadma' directed by Mohsen Gharaei, 'The Half Day Story' directed by Mohammad Hossein Mahdavian, 'Vilaeiha' directed by Monireh Qaydi, 'Twenty-One Days Later' directed by Mohammad Reza Khordmandan, 'Narges Season' directed by Negar Azerbaijanian, and 'We Need a Simple Worker' directed by Manocher Hadi announced their protests regarding the neglect of the contributors of these works by the judging panel in the media and social networks within less than 24 hours. Monireh Qaydi, the director of 'Vilaeiha,' withdrew her nomination in the Best Screenplay category. In a letter published in the news agencies, she stated: 'Participation in any competition and submitting to the judging rules is an important part of the perfectionist and even ambitious spirit of every artist; however, this participation is valuable only when it is not sacrificed in the face of envy, ignorance, and stupidity, and exclusion.' In this regard, Masoud Salami and Mohsen Nasrollahi, the cinematographer and set designer of the film 'Khafegi,' who were nominated for the films 'Gashte 2' and 'Without Date, Without Signature,' respectively, withdrew from the judging due to the neglect of the film 'Khafegi.' In their letter to the secretary of the Fajr Festival, they stated: 'With respect and permission from the directors and producers of the films 'Gashte 2' and 'Without Date, Without Signature,' due to not only the unjust judging and the subjective actions of the judging panel but also due to the disregard and blindness towards a film whose entire team suffered from 'Khafegi' in its inception, we hereby announce our withdrawal from the judging section of the festival.' The film 'Khafegi' directed by Fereydoun Jiriani has only been nominated in the Best Cinematography and also in the field of special effects. In this regard, Mr. Jiriani stated today, Saturday, in response to this issue: 'I am glad that at least the judges of the festival saw at least the snow behind the window of the film Khafegi!' The producer of the film 'Twenty-One Days Later' also stated on Tuesday, February 7, in an interview with Mehr News Agency that the treatment of this film at the 35th Fajr Film Festival was not fair and thanked the public for their support of the film. Mohammad Reza Shefa stated: 'In words, they told us that 'Twenty-One Days Later' is participating in the competition section, but in practice, they showed that they did not want this film to enter the competition section; I believe there was a completely deliberate effort to ensure that this film was not seen at the festival.' This producer added: 'With the announcement of the nominees, I concluded that the planned and premeditated story of the invisibility of this film is going completely right.' Mohsen Kiaei and Hamed Behdad in the film 'Sadma,' another film whose neglect in some categories has caused the director's protest, is directed by Mohsen Gharaei. This director protested the non-nomination of Hamed Behdad at the 35th Fajr Film Festival. Mr. Gharaei wrote in part of a letter published by Mehr News Agency: 'I am looking for a way to believe that Hamed Behdad was not nominated for acting in my film. No way brings me to the destination.' In the continuation of this director's letter, he wrote: 'Everything is filled with doubt for me. Why haven't you nominated Hamed?! Even with every form of hostility, you should have nominated Hamed, would anyone be upset? Would it hurt a specific place?' According to this director, there has also been injustice towards some other contributors of films such as Hamid Nematollah and Farshad Mohammadi (Rag Khwab), Fereydoun Jiriani and Masoud Salami (Khafegi), Ahmad Mehranfar and Sajad Pahlevanzadeh (The Half Day Story), Taralan Parvaneh (Farari), and Mehdi Mousavi (Vilaeiha) by the judges. The film 'Narges Season' directed by Negar Azerbaijanian is also among the works that were not deemed deserving of any awards in any category. In this regard, Sahar Sabagh Sarisht, the producer of this film, stated in an interview with ISNA: 'We respect their opinion, and nonetheless, we are proud not to be on the list of nominees.' Manocher Hadi, the director of 'We Need a Simple Worker,' whose film was not nominated in any category, and Mohammad Hossein Mahdavian, whose film 'The Half Day Story' was overlooked in some categories, also expressed criticisms towards the judging panel on their Instagram pages. Among the interesting points of this year's nominees is the nomination of Peyman Yazdani for the soundtrack of the film 'Without Date, Without Signature,' while music is only heard in the ending credits of this film. The film 'Gashte 2' is also nominated for visual effects, while this issue, according to Saeed Saheli, is not visible in this film, and the film 'A Special Day' nominated in the field of special effects has no special effects at all. After the backlash of the protests in the media and the announcement of three withdrawals from nominations, the secretary of the Fajr Festival responded to this issue. Mohammad Heydari stated on the evening of Tuesday, February 7, to Mehr News Agency: 'Those who have withdrawn from the nominations of the Fajr Film Festival have done so of their own accord; should the judging panel select based on what the creators say!' The judging panel of the 35th Fajr Festival consists of Shahram Asadi, Iraj Raminfar, Mohammad Reza Honarmand, Mohammad Mehdi Dadgou, Roya Nonahali, Mohammad Reza Takhtkeshian, and Akbar Nabavi. The complete list of nominees for the 35th Fajr Film Festival is as follows: Nominees for Best Cinematography: Amir Hossein Shojaei for the film Rag Khwab - Omid Salehi for the film Israfil - Maryam Takhtkeshian for the film Negar - Ahmad Reza Shojaei for the film Khafegi - Sahab Zaribaf for the film The Half Day Story. Nominees for Best Makeup: Soodeh Khosravi for Israfil - Abdollah Eskandari for Good, Bad, Jolf - Iman Omidvari for Under the Smoky Roof - Mehrdad Mirakiani for A Special Day - Ali Bahrami Far for Italy Italy. Nominees for Best Visual Effects: Mohammad Lotfalli for Abajan - Mehdi Ghasemi for Vilaeiha - Sina Ghavidel for Rag Khwab - Mohammad Reza Najafi Imam for Twenty-One Days Later - Kamran Saharkhiz and Amir Saharkhiz for Behind the Wall of Silence. Nominees for Best Special Effects: Arash Aghabik for Khafegi / Rag Khwab - Hamid Rasouliyan for Gashte 2 / Incomplete Lights - Iman Karimiyan for Vilaeiha - Arsha Aghdasi for Sara and Aida - Mohsen Roozbehani for The Half Day Story. Nominees for Best Set Design: Kamiab Amin Ashayeri for A Special Day - Amir Hossein Qudsi for Negar - Keyvan Moghadam for Hot Summer - Mohsen Nasrollahi for Without Date, Without Signature - Behzad Jafari Tadi for The Half Day Story. Nominees for Best Costume Design: Negar Naimati for Negar - Nazanin Khazaei for Hot Summer - Behzad Jafari Tadi for The Half Day Story - Mahlegha Naghd for Vilaeiha - Kamiab Amin Ashayeri for A Special Day. Nominees for Best Sound Recording: Abbas Rastgarpour for Under the Smoky Roof - Parviz Abnar for Farari - Dariush Sadeghpour and Mahmoud Kashani for Hot Summer - Amin Mirshakari for Without Date, Without Signature - Vahid Moghadsi for Negar. Nominees for Best Sound Editing: Parviz Abnar for Farari - Seyed Alireza Alavian for Without Date, Without Signature - Hossein Aboualizadeh for Negar - Mohammad Reza Delpak for Under the Smoky Roof - Amir Hossein Qasemi for Hot Summer. Nominees for Best Music: Hamed Sabit for Hot Summer - Peyman Yazdani for Without Date, Without Signature - Setar Oraki for Vilaeiha - Yahya Sepehri Shakib for Farari - Christophe Rezai for Negar. Nominees for Best Editing: Sepideh Abdolwahab for Sadma - Bahram Dehghan for Negar - Hassan Hasandoust for Farari - Sohrab Khosravi for Hot Summer - Ahmad Moradpour for Sara and Aida. Nominees for Best Cinematography: Masoud Salami for Gashte 2 - Peyman Shadmanfar for Without Date, Without Signature - Bahram Badakhshani for Negar - Mohammad Aladpoush for Sophie and Crazy - Hooman Bahmanesh for Hot Summer. Nominees for Best Supporting Actress: Giti Qasemi for Sadma and Vilaeiha - Mina Sadati for Hot Summer - Zakiyeh Behbahani for Without Date, Without Signature - Soraya Qasemi for Vilaeiha - Shabnam Maqdami for Abajan. Nominees for Best Supporting Actor: Saeed Saheli for Gashte 2 - Navid Mohammadzadeh for Without Date, Without Signature - Hadi Hejazi Far for The Half Day Story - Nader Fallah for Sadma and Isolation - Javad Ezzati for The Half Day Story. Nominees for Best Actor in a Leading Role: Amir Aghaei for Without Date, Without Signature - Mohsen Tanabandeh for Farari - Mehrdad Sedighian for The Half Day Story - Ali Mosaffa for Hot Summer - Hamid Farokh Nejad for Good, Bad, Jolf. Nominees for Best Actress in a Leading Role: Maryla Zarai for Under the Smoky Roof - Leila Hatami for Rag Khwab - Parinaz Izadyar for Hot Summer - Ghazal Shakri for Sara and Aida - Sara Bahrami for Italy Italy - Hediyeh Tehrani for Israfil. Nominees for Best Screenplay: Monireh Qaydi and Arsalan Amiri for Vilaeiha - Kambouzia Partovi for Farari - Payam Karami for Hot Summer - Saeed Roustaei for Sadma - Vahid Jalilvand and Ali Zaranghar for Without Date, Without Signature. Nominees for Best Director: Vahid Jalilvand for Without Date, Without Signature - Ebrahim Irajzad for Hot Summer - Pouran Derakhshandeh for Under the Smoky Roof - Hossein Mahdavian for The Half Day Story - Alireza Davoodnejad for Farari - Ramid Javan for Negar. Nominees for Best Film: Jahangir Kootari for Farari - Javad Nourouzi for Hot Summer - Pouran Derakhshandeh for Under the Smoky Roof - Seyed Mahmoud Rezavi for The Half Day Story - Ali Jalilvand for Without Date, Without Signature.