TEHRAN- Renowned composer Karen Homayounfar has been awarded the title of Islamic Revolution Artist of the Year.
He received this honor, along with a special award, on Sunday evening at the closing ceremony of the 11th Islamic Revolution Art Week, an annual festival organized by the Art Bureau of the Islamic Ideology Dissemination Organization (IIDO).He received the award for his music album "Sayyed al-Ummah," created as a tribute to the martyr Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah."I have received many awards, but this one is truly extraordinary," he stated after accepting his award from renowned filmmakers Ebrahim Hatamikia and Ahmadreza Darvish, as well as Hojatoleslam Mohammad Qomi, the director of the IIDO, and Mohammad-Mehdi Dadman, the director of the Art Bureau.Among all the nominees, many were more deserving than I, and I am grateful to the selection committee for choosing someone as small as me for this great honor," he mentioned."My love for the people and Iran runs deep, and now my work has become even more challenging, he continued.We live in a geography of love, expectation, and hope.
All our scholars and celebrities throughout history are figures any nation would dream of having.
I hope the artists of our country, all highly talented, can swiftly open the cultural capitals of the world with their works in literature, music, cinema, and with the support of officials.That would be our great victory when they recognize the culture of this ancient land, the heart of the Middle East," he concluded.Speaking about Homayounfar, Hatamikia noted that the films he has created share a deep connection with music.Honestly, music is the wing of this flight.
A master like Karen Homayounfar is a true maestro of flight.
He has a grasp of all heights, and the evidence of this claim lies in the music of the films he has crafted, he noted.Homayounfar's music conveys a sense of mourning that evokes deep emotions, he added.Born in 1978, Karen Homayounfar is an award-winning musician and composer, who has won the Crystal Simorgh for Best Film Score at the Fajr Film Festival four times and has received the Golden Statue for Best Music at the Iran Cinema Celebration five times.
In 2022, he served as one of the judges on the third season of the television competition "Asr-e Jadid" (New Era).Homayounfar was selected from five nominees for the Islamic Revolution Artist of the Year, which included Golestan Jafarjan for receiving commendation from the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, for her book "Autumn Has Arrived" and its 135 reprints; Mohammad Hamzehzadeh for creating the book series "Tales of Delestan and Golestan"; Mohammadreza Doost Mohammadi for his portraits of martyred commanders of the Resistance Front and his impactful contributions to resistance art; and Mohammad Rasouli for his timely poetry during the Al-Aqsa Storm and in crucial moments of the Resistance Front.In another part of the ceremony, Kamal Sharaf, a cartoonist and caricaturist from Yemen, was recognized as the international figure of Resistance Art for creating nearly 500 works following the Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, highlighting his role in the epic artistic narrative in Yemen.
The award was presented to Ibrahim Mohammad al-Deilami, the Yemeni ambassador to Tehran.After receiving the award, al-Deilami expressed his gratitude to the festival organizers and sent greetings to the fighters of the Resistance Front who sacrifice their lives and remain immortal.At this stage, where the struggle has reached its peak, it is incumbent upon all of us to surge against the forces of disbelief; undoubtedly, only the men of God can withstand the front of disbelief, he said.On behalf of Kamal Sharaf who, with his steadfastness and his pen, has received this award, I extend my gratitude.
We all must stand firm on this front, retreating not even an inch, and everyone should come forward with whatever they have to contribute, just as artists fight with their pens."The art week is organized by the Art Bureau of the Islamic Ideology Dissemination Organization every year to commemorate the martyrdom anniversary of documentarian Morteza Avini.Art exhibitions and workshops, and theatrical musical performances are organized during this week.Avini was martyred by a landmine in 1993 during his last trip to the former Iran-Iraq war zone in southwestern Iran while making the documentary A City in the Sky about the fall of Khorramshahr and the liberation of the southwestern Iranian city during the Iran-Iraq war.He became famous for The Narration of Triumph and was called the master of martyred writers by his colleagues and war veterans due to the fervent narrations he wrote for his documentaries.Avini has been commemorated by various Iranian personalities and organizations on different occasions.SAB/.
This article first appeared/also appeared in Tehran Times