The program ‘A Night With Alexander Sokurov’ was held at Tehran’s National Museum of Iran on Saturday (April 23) in honor of the prominent Russian filmmaker who is currently in Iran as a guest of the 34th Fajr International Film Festival (FIFF).
Sokurov’s last film ‘Francofonia’ (2015) is one of the movies being shown in the Special Screenings section of the festival. He also held a workshop in the Talent Campus section on April 21.
As the movie is a documentary on the Louvre Museum, the event was organized by the FIFF, Embassy of France and the National Museum at the museum premises in downtown Tehran, Mehr News Agency reported.
After screening the film, actor Reza Kianian, the manager of the festival venue, Charsou Cineplex, said although famous Hollywood filmmaker Martin Scorsese once called Sokurov a “pioneer in technologies” but “I believe he is a man of ethics and his moral perspective is clear from his films; he follows the tradition of Russian literature”.
It is usually said that cinema is a universal language and filmmakers understand each other through their works, the Russian director noted.
“However, there are hindrances which make complete understanding of one another difficult, and I believe what separates or unites us is the power of a nation’s culture,” he said, adding that “he has always spoken honestly through the language of cinema.”
French cultural attaché in Tehran Jamel Oubechou appreciated festival secretary Reza Mirkarimi’s gesture to screen ‘Fancophonia’ and pointed to the “fortunate coincidence of screening the film and the visit of the president of the Louvre Jean-Luc Martinez’s to Tehran two weeks ago.”
In a meeting with Masoud Soltanifar, head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, Martinez discussed Paris-Tehran ties in archeology and cultural research.
Written by Sokurov, ‘Francofonia’ tells the story of two men, Louvre director Jacques Jaujard and Nazi occupation officer Count Franziskus Wolff-Metternich, whose alliance would be the driving force behind the preservation of museum treasures during the period in history.
The movie won the Mimmo Rotella Foundation Award at the Venice Film Festival and was selected as the Best Euro-Mediterranean Film by the Federation of Film Critics of Europe and the Mediterranean.
Born in Russia, Sokurov, 65, holds a master’s degree in history from the University of Gorky and another MA in filmmaking from VGIK State Cinema School. His most significant works include ‘Russian Ark’ (2002), filmed in a single unedited shot and ‘Faust’ (2011) which won Venice’s Golden Lion.
