Hafez Awards
Hafez Awards is an annual awards ceremony which is held honoring cinematic achievements in Iranian cinema. The awards, first presented in 1997, are presented by Picture World Magazine (Aka. Donyaye Tassvir in Persian) which makes it to be known also as Donyaye Tassvir Awards. It's the only non-governmental ceremony among the cinematic festivals and awards held in Iran. Mehran Modiri and Asghar Farhadi jointly with 9 statues of Hafez are the record holders of this award. Background. Ali Moallem, Picture World founder and previous editor, established the awards in mid-'90s when Iranian cinema was under heavy  governmental dominance. Watching Iranian cinema developing presence and success in international film festivals, he thought over creating an independent film award in order to honor filmmakers without political considerations and also to make a connection between film stars and the people. First ceremony was held in 1997 under the title "Hafez" after Iranian great poet Khwāja Shams-ud-Dīn Muḥammad Ḥāfeẓ-e Shīrāzi. The award is a typographical statue resembling Persian written form of the word "Hafez". as of 2016, sixteen Hafez Awards ceremonies has been held through the years. Categories. Awards are a set of 24 statues and a  medal as follows: Television awards. Winners are chosen by a 9-membered jury including Picture World writers and critics. The nominees are selected from the movies and TV series which are screened in a single Iranian year (21 March-20 March).