TEHRAN -- Iranian cinema claimed four awards, including the Grand Prix for Best Film and the Best Documentary award, at the XXII Altyn Minbar Kazan International Film Festival, which concluded in Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan, Russia.
Land of Angels, written and directed by Babak Khajeh Pasha and produced by Manouchehr Muhammadi, was the festival’s biggest Iranian winner, taking three awards: the Grand Prix, the Best Actress Award for Sulaf Fawakherji, and the Best Cinematography Award for Alireza Barazandeh.
The film, a joint production of Tasvir Shahr Institute and Soureh Cinema Organization, had previously emerged as the most decorated film at the 44th Fajr Film Festival, where it received five Crystal Simorgh awards and eight honorary diplomas.
Land of Angels is among Iranian cinema’s productions with an international outlook and capacity. Featuring Arab actors, the film presents a human story set against war and crisis in Gaza.
The fourth Iranian award at Kazan went to Volat, a documentary by Zahra Bagheri, which received the festival’s Best Documentary Award.
The film follows Seyfour, a 94-year-old man who returns, after 50 years, to his submerged homeland — a village that disappeared beneath the water following the construction of a dam. While Seyfour’s family considers the journey futile, he sets out alone, embarking on a journey that explores the enduring bond between people, their land and their identity.
Iranian cinema was also represented in several other sections of the festival. The short fiction film Very, Very Far and Very Close, directed by Ahmad Heydarian, competed in the short-film competition, while Hejir Asadi’s animation Chavak was screened in the animation section.
Raha, directed by Hesam Farahmand, and Fish on the Hook, directed by Mohiaddin Mozaffar and produced as an Iran–Tajikistan co-production, were featured in the “Russia–Islamic World” section.
Majid Majidi’s Muhammad: The Messenger of God was included in the festival’s special program dedicated to outstanding films about Islam.
The XXII Altyn Minbar Kazan International Film Festival was held from September 4 to 8, 2026, in Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan, Russia.