TEHRAN -- Iranian filmmaker Yousef Kargar’s Psalms of Sorrow won the Grand Prize at the 43rd Tehran International Short Film Festival (TISFF), receiving $3,000 at the closing ceremony on Thursday.
The ceremony marked the conclusion of the festival’s 43rd edition, organized by the Iranian Youth Cinema Society (IYCS) under the direction of Behrouz Shoeibi. The international Grand Prize winner becomes eligible for Academy Awards consideration under the festival’s qualifying status.
Kargar’s film was recognized in the international competition. The director dedicated the award to his mother and to fathers who have passed away, explaining that the film was inspired by his grief following his father’s death. He also acknowledged producer Majid Barzegar’s contribution to the project.
In the national competition, Gureh, directed by Marjan Ashrafizadeh and produced by Mohsen Khabbaz, won the Golden Leaf for Best Film. Ashrafizadeh also received the award for Best Director of a Fiction Film.
The audience award went to Adam, produced by Reyhaneh Rabiei and Muhammadreza Nouri.
Other national winners included Ali Bagheri, who won Best Actor for Qassameh, and Narges Hazareh, who received an honorary diploma for her performance in Bi Dar Kojā. Sima Rasouli and Abolfazl Azizi won Best Screenplay for Asib-Didegi, while Kiarash Salehi received Best Adapted Screenplay for Hemophilia.
Siamak Soleimani won Best Editing for Asib-Didegi. Ali Husseinzadeh received the cinematography award for Psalms of Sorrow and Asib-Didegi. Panah Alvani received the Special Jury Prize for Japani.
In other categories, Habib Alvani won Best Documentary for Ehtezar, Malek Eghbali won Best Animated Film for Mesl-e Dust, Mesl-e Gavazn, and Vahid Mobasheri and Asma Darvish-Khoob shared the award for Best Experimental Film Direction for Se Noghteh Khun. Motahareh Edalatkhah received an honorary diploma for the documentary Twenty-Five Years of Waiting.
Danish filmmaker Mikkel Bjørn Kjelert won Best Fiction Film for Maybe in March, while Russian director Alexandra Sokolovskaya received an honorary diploma for The Sun Fell and Rolled Away.
Afghan filmmaker Elham Ehsas won Best Documentary for The Forgotten Spaceman. Chilean filmmaker Niels Atallah received Best Experimental Film for Meri Mundi, and Kiana Naghshineh won Best Animation for With Breads

 and Ribbons in Mashi, representing Germany.
In the AI competition, China’s Daio won the special prize for Let’s Go Play!, while Iranian filmmaker Mehdi Jafari received an honorary diploma for Shor Ice Cream. Hooman Mahmoudi won the Emerging Horizons Award for Bi Dar Kojā.
The international pitching competition awarded first place to Hara Khan Mirzaei for Starfish and second place to Indian filmmaker Haider Khan for When the River Swallows Words.
The closing ceremony also honored Jafar Sanaei-Moghadam for his longstanding contribution to Iranian cinema and support for short filmmaking.
The festival’s awards highlighted the breadth of Iranian and international short cinema, spanning fiction, documentary, animation, experimental work and AI-generated imagery.