The festival's primary prize is the Crystal Simorgh, named for the mythical bird of Persian legend -- a creature of wisdom and benevolence that appears throughout Iranian poetry and art. Winners receive the award alongside a cash prize in Iranian rials. Categories include Best Film, Best Director, Best Script, Best Actor, and Best Actress, mirroring the structure of international film awards. But the Simorgh carries weight beyond its crystal casing. In a country where filmmakers have been banned from working, arrested, or forced into exile, winning this prize can be both a career triumph and a political act. The jury operates under the condition that no film may receive more than two awards, a rule that distributes recognition broadly across each year's selections.

Iranian cinema has produced some of the most acclaimed films of the past half-century. Directors like Abbas Kiarostami, Asghar Farhadi, and Jafar Panahi have won top prizes at Cannes, Berlin, and the Academy Awards. The Fajr festival has served as the domestic launchpad for many of these careers, premiering important films before they traveled to international festivals. Yet the festival operates under constraints that shape every screening. The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance supervises the event. Films must navigate censorship guidelines that govern depictions of gender, politics, religion, and social critique. What audiences see at Fajr is often different from what the same directors show abroad.

The festival's most revealing moments have come not from what was screened but from who refused to attend. In January 2020, following the Iranian military's downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, dozens of prominent Iranian actors, directors, and artists announced they would boycott the festival. The gesture was a public refusal to participate in state-sponsored celebration while families mourned 176 dead. In other tense years, the festival has faced similar withdrawals. Some artists have defended participation, including actor Reza Kianian, who argued that boycotting the festival punished cinema itself. The tension between engagement and refusal has defined the event as much as any film it has shown.

From 2015 to 2022, the Fajr festival split into two separate events: a national festival held in February, focused on domestic premieres, and an international festival held in April, designed to attract global entries and visitors. The bifurcation reflected an attempt to distinguish Iran's internal film conversation from its international ambitions. Since 2022, the two have merged again into a single event running from February 1 to 11. The combined festival receives entries from across Central Asia, the Middle East, and beyond, with eligibility rules requiring that international competition films have not previously premiered in the region. Notable international guests over the years have included Oliver Stone, Paul Schrader, and Jean-Pierre Leaud.