Geographic Diversity Evident in Children’s Film Festival of Iran
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The growing number of movies from different parts of the world attending this year’s International Film Festival for Children and Youth in Iran attests to the event’s vast geographic diversity, an official said.
Director of the international section of the 34th International Film Festival for Children and Youth, Raed Faridzadeh, said this year’s edition of the festival enjoys vast geographic diversity because of the rising number of joint productions.
He also unveiled plans to establish a permanent "video library" of the festival.
Commenting on the features of the international cinematic event, Faridzadeh said the festival is one of the oldest ones in the region and has attracted many children’s cinema activists for several years.
He underscored that the festival also has managed to establish a good position and reputation in this field, while it enjoys cordial relations with specialized children's festivals around the globe.
"Last year, due to the spread of coronavirus, the festival was held online," he said, adding that due to the continuation of the pandemic, the international section of the event will be held in an online format this year.
"We have two competitive arenas in the international section. The first one consists of ‘Feature Film Competition’ and ‘Short Film Competition’ sections, in which 12 and 13 films will compete respectively," he explained.
The official noted that two Iranian films, namely "Edo" directed by Mehdi Jafari and "Sons of the Sea" directed by Afshin Hashemi and Hossein Ghasemi-Jami, will participate in the international section.
"Two short fiction films and a short Iranian animation will compete in the short section of the festival," he added.
Faridzadeh also noted the jury of the feature-length section includes judges from France, Germany, Chile, and Sweden.
“In the meantime, the jury members of the short section are from Turkey and Afghanistan, accompanied by Iranian judges including Ghazal Shakeri, Alireza Shoja Nouri, and Mehrdad Oskooi," he stated.
According to the official, movies from India, Spain, Russia, Lebanon, Turkey, Croatia, Luxembourg, Norway, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iran, Estonia, Mexico, Poland, Switzerland, and Peru will compete in the international section of the festival.
"Like the previous editions, several children jury members from nine countries including Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Japan, Denmark, and Greece, along with three Iranian referees will review the films," he added, noting that three international workshops from Turkey, Chile, and Germany will also be held on the sidelines of the festival.
The 34th edition of the festival will be held from October 8 to 13, 2021, in collaboration with the Iranian Cinema Organization, Farabi Cinematic Foundation, and Isfahan Municipality.
The festival's movies will be screened in two cities, Tehran and Isfahan, both in an online format and in theatres in compliance with the Coronavirus health protocols.
