The significance of prayer in Islam was emphasized by Iranian Youth Cinema Society (IYCS) President Habib Ilbeigi who said, “Prayer is a fundamental principle in our religion, the importance of which has been stressed through different religious sources.”
He was addressing a press conference for the 6th National Festival of Prayer in Camera’s View on Saturday (Jan 3) at the society’s main office in Tehran.
Quoting Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he said, two years ago “the Supreme Leader noted that artistic aspects of prayer should be grasped by artists and be used for cultural activities to encourage and invite more people, especially the youth, to prayer.”
The IYCS has made efforts to help and encourage artists and filmmakers to create works on the significance of prayer. “The festival is a platform for people active in the field to showcase their work and be encouraged to follow their path stronger than before, since if they are not supported and their works are not seen by the public, they will feel isolated and thus find no motivation to move on,” Ilbeigi stated.
Higher Goal
Also speaking at the meeting, IYCS Deputy for Provincial Affairs Farid Farkhondehkish underlined that one of the goals pursued by hosting such an event was to have a “functional and effective festival.” In addition to showing films, the festival seeks a higher goal which is preparing “a suitable spiritual atmosphere so that all the people involved can benefit from religious experts for further cooperation.”
In today’s world, it is been proved that cinema can be an international tool to spread the thoughts of not just the filmmakers but a whole ideology formed in the think tanks behind the scenes. “Therefore we should take advantage of this valuable medium and use it to spread the word of our religion across the globe,” Farkhondehkish added.
To a query from Financial Tribune on whether there are any plans to hold the festival at the international level, Ilbeigi said “due to financial problems, the organizers are not yet ready to do so.” Moreover, he clarified that although there is potential “for taking the event across the borders, there is first need for better quality work to be made inside the country.”
In response to another question on chances for the movies to be screened outside the festival, he stated, “there have been talks with the new managers of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), to show short films on local channels.
Better Understanding
During the 4-day event a number of cultural and epistemological meetings will also be held “to help create a better understanding between the art and culture figures and religious experts.”
Isra International Foundation for Revelatory Sciences headed by Ayatollah Javadi-Amoli is cooperating in holding the cinematic-religious program.
The festival includes three sections of short films, movie scripts, and photos. Close to 1500 works in total were received by the festival secretariat. Out of 272 films, 39 were approved by the selection committee; 42 photos were accepted out of 915 and 11 script could find a place in the competition section out of 304.
Head of Iran Cinema Organization Hojatollah Ayoubi, Ayatollah Javadi-Amoli, and a number of cinema officials will inaugurate the festival on Monday (Jan 5), in the holy city of Qom.
The festival concludes on January 8 by awarding the winners.
