The second edition of the Mehr Festival concluded on October 4, 2025, in the United Arab Emirates.
According to Artmag.ir, citing ILNA, the closing ceremony of the second Mehr Festival was held on October 4, 2025 at the Palace Hotel Hall in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Participants in this independent event competed in the theater, music, photography, and short film sections from October 4 to 12, under the supervision of Hila Sedighi.
Touraj Aslani, the secretary of the film section of the festival, and the jury of this section consisted of Tahmineh Milani (Iran), Giorgi Ovashvili (Georgia), Sediq Barmak (Afghanistan), Saman Salor (Iran), and Zahra Ghandour (Iraq).
The awards for the second Mehr Festival include the best short fiction, documentary, animation, and experimental films, the best film from the audience’s perspective, the best technical and artistic achievement (along with an honorary diploma), the festival’s grand prize (along with an honorary diploma and a Mehr statuette), and the “Special Talent Award of the MAD” including the MAD badge and a one-year scholarship for a specialized filmmaking course with a valid certificate.
In the ethnic and regional music section of the second Mehr International Festival, which was held under the secretaryship of Mohammad Mehdi Gorangi, in the ensemble category, out of more than 360 works from dozens of musical groups, 89 groups reached the judging stage and, in two stages, 4 groups reached the final stage as selected groups.
The music section of the festival also introduced its winners in the singing, playing, and composing categories.
The final results of the Ethnic and Regional Music Section of the 2nd Mehr International Festival have been announced by the Secretariat of this section as follows:
Ensemble Performance Section
First Place: “Zhindar” Music Group from Iran, Sanandaj, winner of the festival statuette, honorary diploma and cash prize
Second Place: “Turksoy” Music Group from the Republic of Azerbaijan, Baku, winner of an honorary diploma and cash prize
Third Place: “Trio Ma and Bahar” Music Group from Iran, Tehran, winner of a plaque of appreciation and cash prize
Gariz Music Group from Iran, Tehran, winner of a special honorary diploma from the jury
Musicianship Section
First Place: Vesal Salehian and Sina Shabanpour, (Santur players) from the Baran Group, winner of the festival statuette and honorary diploma
Second Place: Salman Ojani (tar player), from the Razavi Group, winner of an honorary diploma
Third Place: Ali Darafshan (dutar player), from the Abolvafa Bozhgani Group and Sohrab Bahiraei (musician) Kamancheh) from the Torfeh group, winner of the festival’s plaque
Singing section
First place: Maftoon Safarli from the “Turksoy” group, winner of the festival’s statuette and honorary diploma
Second place: Reza Salehi from the “Sharaz” group and
Third place: Omid Rahmani from the “Abolvafa Bozhgani” group and Darya Kakaei from the “Zhindar” group, winner of the festival’s plaque
Raber Kordestani from the “Arang” group, winner of the honorary diploma
In this section, Darya Kakaei, as an emerging figure in singing, won the festival’s special plaque.
Composition Section
First Place: Reza Askarzadeh from the “Trio Ma and Bahar” group, winner of the festival statuette and honorary diploma
Second Place: Iqbal Naser from the “Parand” group, Pouria Varziri from the “Zhindar” group, and members of the “Tarma” music group, winner of the festival’s honorary diploma
Third Place: Kavan Karimi from the “Vedad” group, winner of the festival’s plaque
People such as Ali Akbar Shekarchi, Nazaket Teymurova, Sepideh Jandaghi, Ahmad Al-Hosni, and Mohammad Mehdi Gorangi were members of the jury of the ethnic and regional music section in the second edition of the Mehr International Festival, and Fardin Khalatbari was also present with them in the first stage of the judging.
