Nasirian, Nasirpur, Ahmadi Receive Davoud Rashidi Awards
TEHRAN. (Iranart) – Actors Ali Nasirian and Mahtab Nasirpur and writer Ahmadreza Ahmadi have each received one of the Davoud Rashidi Awards, which are granted by late actor Davud Rashidi’s family to honor cultural figures with outstanding achievements.
The awards ceremony began with tributes to Hosseinali Tabatabai, the first manager of Tehran’s City Theater Complex, and recently-deceased actor Dariush Asadzadeh at the Abbas Kiarostami Hall of the Farabi Cinema Foundation on Thursday evening.
Actors Sirus Ebrahimzadeh and Fatemeh Motamed-Arya delivered speeches in praise of Rashidi who died in 2016, and the organizers also screened a video depicting the New York-based Iranian director, Amir Naderi.
“Davoud Rashidi didn’t reach the position he deserved,” he said in the video. “He had to play in films he didn’t like, but he always read at nights and was always helpful.”
“I didn’t have the chance to work with him. Many people didn’t know him, but I had the chance to know him,” he noted.
The 79-year-old Persian poet, playwright and children’s book writer, Ahmadreza Ahmadi, was the first person called to the stage to receive his award.
In his short speech, Ahmadi expressed his thanks to his wife and doctor for the efforts they made to help him recover from a severe heart condition.
“As a result, I could write several books and I have recently begun to do paintings,” he said.
Nasirian received his award from Taraneh Alidoosti, the star of Asghar Farhadi’s Oscar-winning movie “The Salesman” who co-starred with him in director Hassan Fat’hi’s popular series, “Sharzad”.
“Davoud Rashidi made a major impact on Iran’s theater and his directorial career was very different from the regular programs others pursued. I learned a lot from him and I’m very proud of meeting him and being his colleague,” Alidoosti said. “I co-starred with Mr. Nasirian [in “Sharzad”], but I never had the courage to ask him if I could take a photo with him. Tonight, I want to do this.”
Nasirpur received the award from her husband, Mohammad Rahmanian, the director of the acclaimed movie “Bench Cinema” and play “The Horses”.
“I have worked with Mahtab Nasirpur for three decades and we have lived together for over two decades. She has been the motivation behind my works,” Rahmanian said before giving the award to Nasirpur.
Nasirpur thanked the organizers and said, “I also thank Mohammad Rahmanian for giving me a beautiful life.”
Source:Tehran Times