Top Three Winners Named During Award Ceremony Before a Live Audience at
– March 24, 2014 – The winners of the 2014 Farhang Foundation Short Film Festival were announced on Saturday, March 22, 2014, during the 6th Annual Farhang Foundation Short Film festival Award Ceremony & Reception at LACMA before a live audience at the museum’s Leo S. Bing Auditorium.
First place winner was Mr. Mean (Aghaye Past) (Canada) by KAJART, earning the top prize of $10,000. K-von Presents: “A Splash of Nowruz” () by Kevan Moezzi & Steven Gute came in second place and won $5,000. Third place winner and the recipient of $3,000 was Lady with Flower-Hair (Khanum-e Gol Mikhaki) () by Sarah Tabibzadeh.
Rounding out the top six submissions of this year’s festival were Brain of Terror (USA) by Kathreen Khavari, Bride of Rain (Iran) by Ako ZandKarimi, and The Legend of Gheysar (USA) by Amirali Haghayeghi, listed in alphabetical order.
“Since our very first Farhang Foundation Short Film Festival, we have been driven by the belief that the cinematic arts are a perfect forum for visualizing Iranian heritage and celebrating its most universal themes,” said , Farhang Foundation trustee and Chair of its Film Committee. “With over 100 submissions received from all over the globe, including the United States, Iran, Canada, and Italy, it appears that we are not alone in this belief. We congratulate all participants, especially our finalists, whose works were among the best we have seen over the years.”
All submitted films were judged by a jury that included film industry veterans, scholars, including Mark Amin (Chair), Nazanin Boniadi, Hassan Ildari, Hamid Naficy, Navid Negahban, and Mahnaz Newman and Farhang Foundation’s Board of Trustees. Decisions were based on artistic merit, originality, creativity, storytelling, production value, and visualization of Iranian heritage. Views expressed by the filmmakers do not represent those of Farhang Foundation or its Board Members and Management.
About KAJART
Kajart is an animation production studio, based in , formed by four friends (Hajar Moradi, Kajeh Mehrizi, Taravat Khalili, Vahid Fazel), who discovered they share a similar taste of art. Kajart ended up creating some unique visual artworks as they discovered each other’s different talents and skills. Their passion towards music and film has led them to mainly focus on producing short animated movies and music videos.
About Kevon Moezzi
Kevan Moezzi – If you can’t be Persian, at least try to be ‘Half ‘. That’s what standup comedian K-von did. With his multi-cultural humor, he’s been able to connect with and make audiences of all ages laugh across the US and internationally. When not on stage, you can catch him in one of his many TV and movie appearances. He’s just as busy behind the scenes writing, producing, & directing a number of projects including his 1-hour comedy special TANX GOD! and upcoming documentary, NOWRUZ.
About Sarah Tabibzadeh
Sarah Tabibzadeh was born in 1984, in Tehran, Iran. She has BA in Graphic Design from University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran and MA in Tarbiat Modarres, Tehran, Iran. She is the designer and manager of “Sarah Product” since 2002. Her first animation “Lady with Flower-Hair” has won several international and national prizes in 2013 including the Second National Prize at the “8th Tehran International Animation Biennal”, the Special Prize of Jury & selected as the best animation by audience “Accorto Di donne” in Italy, and the Best Animation “Short Film Festival” in Mexico.
About Farhang Foundation
Farhang Foundation is a non-religious, non-political and not-for-profit foundation established in 2008 to celebrate and promote Iranian art and culture for the benefit of the community at large. The foundation supports a broad range of academic activities in Southern California by funding university programs, publications and conferences. The foundation also supports diverse cultural programs such as the celebration of Nowruz and Mehregan, theater, dance performances, film screenings and poetry reading in Southern California. And, in cooperation with various cultural and academic institutions, Farhang Foundation funds major programs and exhibitions about Iran and its culture. However, the content, viewpoints or biases expressed by individual artists, academics, institutions or events supported by the foundation belong solely to each individual party and do not necessarily reflect the views of Farhang Foundation. For more info visit www.farhang.org.
