The 45th Roshd International Film Festival kicked off in Tehran and five other provinces simultaneously on Friday.
Iran’s oldest film event was inaugurated at the first modern institution of higher learning in the country Darolfonoon (meaning polytechnic) in Tehran in the presence of deputy ministers of education Mohyeddin-Bahram Mohamadian, Ali Zarafshan and other officials and filmmakers, IRNA reported.
Renowned movie director Majid Majidi was honored as the winner of the first edition of the festival after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
At the beginning of his career, Majidi directed movies centering on children and young adults including, ‘The Father’ (1997), ‘Children of Heaven’ (1998), first Iranian film nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Award, ‘The Color of Paradise’ (2000) and ‘Baran’ (2001).
A total of 310 venues in Tehran and Gilan, Markazi, Northern Khorasan and Hormozgan provinces are hosting 946 works from 35 countries.
Of the total entries to the event, 198 films from 17 countries are screened in the competition section, festival secretary Seyed Saeed Badiei said, noting that 666 films, 398 Iranian and 268 foreign productions, are participating in the international out-of-competition section.
Participant countries include Argentina, Germany, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Russia, Japan, Sweden, France, Mexico, India and the US.
The movies are presented in five categories including scientific and educational, short pedagogical, feature pedagogical, documentaries and animations. A committee of 14 Iranian and four foreign jurors will evaluate the works.
Established in 1963, the festival seeks the main objectives of identifying, selecting and introducing the best educational and pedagogical films in order to encourage Iranian and foreign filmmakers active in making educational films, promote artistic and cultural interaction among them and help improve the quality and quantity of educational films.
The week-long event ends on Nov. 20 by awarding the winners.
