The 19th Iranian International Film Market (IFM) is underway as part of the 34th Fajr International Film Festival (April 20-25) at Charsou Cineplex in Tehran.
The main goal of the IFM is marketing for Iranian films and commercial interaction with other countries as well as preparing the grounds for cultural cooperation and coproduction.
“It also provides an opportunity for the local distributors, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) and private institutions to select good films for public screening as well as for the national festivals,” said Vahid Esfandiari, IFM manager.
Explaining how it runs, he said, “Basically, a film market has its own mechanism and sets of rules. There are always calls for participation in festivals. Buyers and sellers, and those who are interested will participate.”
According to the FIFF Public Relations Office, Reza Mirkarimi, festival secretary, has set up a special team this year to pay more attention to the region (Middle East and neighboring countries).
This time the focus also is more on quality.
A total of 34 foreign companies are selling their productions, 28 foreign companies are attending to purchase what others want to sell; 60 representatives of international festivals have also joined to select what they consider appropriate for their festivals and 27 Iranian companies are presenting local productions,” Esfandiari noted.
The market is open from 2pm to 9pm, and the screenings for the international guests are from 9am to 12am.
According to the festival regulations, each Iranian company or organization can introduce a maximum of 10 films in the market. “However, there are over 500 films being presented in the IFM,” Esfandiari pointed out.
IRIB, Farabi Foundation, Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA) and the Documentary and Experimental Film Center (DEFC) are among the main Iranian sellers this time around.
