The 5th Khorshid Independent Short Film Festival is currently under way at the Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research in Tehran.
The festival gives support to experimental, also known as avant garde, cinema, a mode of filmmaking that rigorously reevaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms, as well as alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working.
Around 56 entries have been sent to the event which opened on Tuesday and runs through Jan. 15.
“Training and research are the main pillars of the festival,” said its secretary Mehdi Yarmohammadi at a press conference earlier. Head of the Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research, Hamid Ayati, festival artistic director Mohammadreza Aslani, and Gita Aslani Shahrestani, the Iranian representative of the French-based cultural association ‘Hamqadam’, were also present, Mehr News Agency reported.
Experimental works by Alain Cavalier, acclaimed French film director, will be overviewed at the event, said Yarmohammadi, emphasizing its focus on avant garde cinema.
“Experimental films don’t imply that film makers are amateurs, but new experiences by veteran cineastes will be presented,” said Aslani.
There is also a separate section on French empirical cinema. Top literary scholars from France, Belgium, Germany and Austria will be on the jury.
The festival will provide an opportunity to screen over 30 independent empirical movies from French cinema, “creating constructive interaction between the audience, festival participants and the international cinema industry,” Yarmohammadi added.
“The presence of ‘Hamqadam’ association is aimed at introducing Persian and French art and culture bilaterally,” said Aslani.
Professional workshops will also be held on the occasion, directed by experienced international cineastes.
The festival was established in 2011 by Yarmohammadi and is sponsored by the Independent Short Film Support Center which helps identify creative and talented filmmakers, and the best and leading independent Iranian cinema productions. It provides them support at domestic and international festivals.
The center has supported more than 200 short films and documentaries submitted at prestigious international events, and more than 350 short films and documentaries in domestic festivals.
