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New Programs at Fajr Int’l Film Fest

New Programs at Fajr Int’l Film Fest
New Programs at Fajr Int’l Film Fest

The 35th Fajr International Film Festival (FIFF), slated for April 21-28 in Tehran, has announced its programs of side events and special screenings.

In a section called ‘Retrospective of Korean Cinema’, seven films from the latest productions from South Korea will be shown.

Last October, at the 21st Busan International Film Festival in Busan port city, South Korea, “among the films from Far Eastern countries, South Korean works caught my attention and that of other participants,” IRNA quoted Iranian film director Kamal Tabrizi, 57, as saying. Tabrizi is an advisor to FIFF on selection of films.

“Earlier at the Cannes Film Festival, South Korean works received similar attention,” Tabrizi added. “Eventually, we realized there is a calculated difference and diversity in South Korea’s cinema. This encouraged us to dedicate a section in the upcoming Fajr festival to South Korean films.”

South Korea cinema is composed of various genres. Their diverse films are unique across Asia. Nearly all the famous films released last year in South Korea have been viewed by the advisors of Fajr festival. The selected works are a different collection representing the country’s cinema industry.

  From Baltic Nations

A new space is to be launched at the 2017 edition of the festival, bringing together some of the best films from the fast growing cinema of the Baltic nations, namely Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

Titled ‘Retrospective of Baltic Cinema’, the section will feature seven significant works from across the region. Of the total 38 movies seen, seven have been selected for Fajr. Three  from Latvia, two from Estonia, one from Lithuania and one is a joint production of Latvia and Lithuania. One of the movies will also take part in the International Competition section.

“Last year one movie from Latvia was screened at Fajr which caught the attention of festival programmers,” festival advisor Kamyar Mohsenin said.

“New talent and high-quality works are emerging in the Baltic states. Their cinema is not known to many viewers. Their films have a fresh take on history and society which is captivating,” Mohsenin added. This year three A-list international festivals, including Locarno in Switzerland, have also decided to initiate a similar program for Baltic cinema.

  Horror Films

For the first time in its history, the festival has dedicated a program to show horror movies.

In the section titled ‘Shadows of Horror’, audiences can watch frightening and bizarrely amazing horror movies.

The program will screen six movies that have already made big impressions in their countries of origin: South Korea, Japan, Russia, Poland, and Mexico.

Besides, an Iranian horror film will be premiered in the section during the festival. It is interesting news for Iranian and horror film fans as there have been very few productions in this genre in Iran.

  Talent Campus

At least 68 students from 32 countries plus 52  from Iran are to take part in educational film making workshops of the upcoming festival.

Top filmmakers, movie experts and scholars from across the globe have been invited to teach at the workshops titled ‘Talent Campus’. They will teach film making techniques to trainees from Iran, France, Germany, Ireland, Russia, The Netherlands, China, Slovakia, Turkey, India, Lithuania, and Estonia among others.

Filmmaker Maziar Miri, who is presiding over the section, said the number of applications this year has increased considerably compared to previous editions.

Guests, scholars and trainees from just about ten countries took part in last year’s workshops. “This year, however, they will come from at least 32 countries”.

‘Talent Campus’, initiated last year, was a huge success in finding new film talent in Iran and the broader region. The various sessions of the event was chaired by Iranian movie celebrities such as directors (late) Asghar Farhadi, Majid Majidi, Fereydoun Jeirani, Homayoun As’adian and Mohammad Ali Sajjadi, actors Fatemeh Motamed Aria and Reza Kianian and cinematographer Mahmoud Kalari. They were accompanied by foreign film directors such as Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov.

Filmmaker and screenwriter Reza Mirkarimi is the secretary of the festival which will run for a week at Charsou Cineplex, in downtown Tehran, just like last year.

 

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