By Bruce Bahmani

On October 25, 2006, in Budapest Hungary, the World Academy of Art, Literature, and Media, (WAALM) held it's 2nd Annual Persian Golden Lioness Awards ceremony recognizing some of the past year's best and brightest stars contributing to the further advancement of Culture, Art, Literature, and Media.

Awardees were required to arrive on their own, but once in Budapest were provided with hotel accommodations at the beautiful and modern Artotel, and taken by limo via police escort and motorcade through the streets of Budapest arriving at the Corinthia Grand Hotel Royal for a red carpet and press pre-event. The main event was held in the pristine ballroom of the Corinthia, which has been restored to it's historical grandeur featuring portraits of some of Hungary's most noted citizens. Awardees were provided with a guided tour of Budapest the day before the event.

The Persian Lioness Award

This year's corporate sponsor was courtesy of Mr. Mort Baharloo, co-founder of Healix, a privately held healthcare service company located in Houston, Texas.

This year's winners were:

• Shohreh Aghdashloo - Best Actress
• Omid Djalili - Best Actor for "Casanova", Best Comedian
• Jane Robinson - Costume Design for "The Keeper - The Legend of Omar Khayyam"
• Kayvan Mashayekh - Best Director for "The Keeper - The Legend of Omar Khayyam"
• Dustin Ellis - Best Children's film for "Babak and Friends - A First Norooz"
• Vanessa Redgrave - Lifetime Achievement Award for "The Keeper - The Legend of Omar Khayyam"
• Saied Ghahari - 3D Animation for, "The Rebirth of Rostam"
• Alexander Rahbari - Accomplishment in Music, Classical Symphony Conductor
• Shahrokh Meshkin Ghalam - Dance/Choreography
• Eva Marton - Accomplishment in Music, Hungarian Opera Soprano
• Jahanbakhsh Pazoki - Accomplishment in Music, Composer/ Lyricist
• Nox - Accomplishment in Music, Hungarian Pop Group
• Monika Jalili - Accomplishment in Music, Persian Classical Adaptations
• Princess - Accomplishment in Music, Hungarian Violin trio
• Idan Raichel - Accomplishment in Music, Israel World Fusion Pop
• Homa Homayoun Mirafshar - Poetry
• Howard Lee - Children's Literature for "Jamshid and the Lost Mountain of Light"
• Zsolt Pozsgai - Hungarian Playwright
• Azar Nafisi - Literature
• Bruce Bahmani - Best Comic Book Adaptation for, "Rostam Tales of the Shahnameh"
• Ahmad Reza Baharloo - Journalism, For VOAs "The Round Table with You"
• Amir Namdar, Journalism, for BBC's Persian Service
• Shabnam Rezaei -  Best Website, for PersianMirror.com
• Jahanshah Javid -  Best website, for Iranian.com

Honorees:

• Sattar - Singer
• Muhammad Heidari -  Composer/Musician
• Shahram Fasazadeh - Musician/Violin

WAALM is the recognition arm of the International Further Studies Institute �IFSI, which was established in 1990 by Prof. M. Dorbayani, PhD. IFSI�s promotion of excellence began by awarding its first Doctor Honoris Causa in September 2004 to Persian Classic and Pop Vocalist Icon Sattar, in recognition for his lifetime contribution to charity events and music.

Prof. Dorbayani along with his wife Marjan Abdi, PhD developed the concept of an international awarding body in February 2005 and originally formed the Persian Awards in the similar fashion of the Academy Awards of films in the US. The Persian Golden Lioness Awards are conferred categorically to Awardees of Excellence around the world.