Ali Hatami Adorns Poster of 35th Fajr Film Festival

Following the initiative launched last year, the poster of the 35th Fajr Film Festival (FFF) will depict a prominent figure of Iran cinema, the celebrated filmmaker Ali Hatami (1944-1996).

According to the public relations office of the festival, the poster including a picture of the late cinema and TV director has been designed and will be unveiled at a ceremony in the presence of festival organizers, cineastes and media.

Hatami was an Iranian film director, screenwriter, art director and costume designer. Graduating in cinema from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, Tehran University of Art, he started his career by writing scripts for plays. His debut film was ‘Hasan Kachal’ (Hasan the Bald) in 1970, the first Iranian musical film.

Since then, he paid attention to rhythmic dialogues and also the use of traditional settings and architecture in his films that became the characteristics of his works.

   Keen on History, Culture

Hatami was interested in making films and series on historical and folkloric figures and made movies such as ‘Sattar Khan’ (1972), on the Iranian national hero Sattar Khan who was an important character in Constitutional Revolution of 1905-1911, ‘Hajji Washington’ (1982), about Iran’s first ambassador to the US during the Qajar dynasty and ‘Kamalolmolk’ (1984), on the life and work of famous Iranian painter Kamalolmolk.

For 9 years (1978-1987), Hatami was involved in making the popular TV series ‘Hezar Dastan’ which centered on some of the most important events during the Qajar and Pahlavi dynasties. It was for this series that he established a small production village, in west of Tehran, as the historical site for his work. Later, it was called Ghazali Cinema Town, and has since been used as the shooting location for many historical films and TV series.

On the whole, Hatami wrote and directed 15 films and 4 series during his 30 years of contribution to Iran cinema and TV. He died of cancer in 1996 in Tehran.

Last year for the first time in the Fajr festival history, the event poster was designed differently from the previous editions and included elements related to cinema and movie making such as film rolls and cameras.

The official poster of last year’s festival showed the late actor Khosrow Shakibai (1944-2008). As the organizers said, the change in the design is to honor local cineastes who have helped develop Iran’s film industry.

The 35th edition of FFF is slated for January 29-February 9 in Tehran and 30 other provinces.

From early January till mid February, several art festivals are held under the banner of ‘Fajr’ to mark the 10-Day Dawn (Fajr) Festivities which celebrate the anniversary of the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.