Hafez Awards to honor Ali Rafiei

TEHRAN.(Iranart) - The 18th edition of the Hafez Awards, Iran’s first and only private awards in the film industry and TV productions, plans to honor veteran stage and cinema director Ali Rafiei with a lifetime achievement award, the organizers announced on Saturday.

The ceremony will be held in Tehran on August 13. Critic and producer Ali Moallem was the founder of the awards, which are annually organized by his Persian cinematic monthly Donya-ye Tasvir (Picture World).

Born in 1938 in Isfahan, Rafiei got a Ph.D. in theater from Sorbonne University in France in 1974.

He is the director of the acclaimed plays “Fox Hunting”, “It Does Not Snow in Egypt”, “Crime and Punishment”, “Blood Wedding”, “The Maids”, and “Nightmares and Memories of a Bath Attendant about the Life and Murder of Amir Kabir”.

“Nightmares and Memories of a Bath Attendant about the Life and Murder of Amir Kabir” was selected as the best play of the year in 2016 by Iran’s Critic and Theatrical Writers Society of the Theater Forum.

The play, which is about the life story of Mirza Taqi Khan Amir Kabir, the reformist prime minister of Qajar king Nasser ad-Din Shah, was well received by critics and theater goers.

Rafiei is also the director of two movies, “The Fish Fall in Love” (2006) and “Mr. Yusef” (2011).

Writer Hiva Masih will also be honored with a lifetime achievement award during the Hafez Awards this year.

Photo: Ali Rafiei (R) was honored with a lifetime achievement award at the closing ceremony of the 35th Fajr International Theater Festival on January 31, 2017. (Mehr/Mohammad Moheimani)