Ringing the cinema bell in education/ How does the cinema table shrink? – Mehr news agency Iran and world’s news
According to Mehr News Agency, the 50th episode of “Cinema Criticism” TV show produced by Yousef Bechari And it was hosted by Amirreza Mafi on the evening of Thursday, December 21st, on Chahar TV channel. The first part of this program was dedicated to a special interview with Mojtaba Amini, the secretary of the 42nd Fajr International Film Festival, regarding the holding of this event.
Amini stated at the beginning of this program: This is my first interview about Fajr Film Festival. Last year, friends protested why I was less present, but this year, God willing, I will be present. In the last four months, we went ahead with the planned. From 12 to 22 Bahman, films will be screened simultaneously in Tehran and then in the provinces. Recently, we had an important meeting with the guidance directors of all provinces to witness a good and coherent festival. At the time of registration of the national section, 106 works were registered and this is a sign of the prosperity of cinema and its birth in the production industry. In the last 2 years, we saw the burning of films due to Corona, and the production of works was also stopped or reduced and the economy was not spinning. This year, with the efforts made by the public sector as well as the private sector, many films applied for participation in the national sector. Last year, about 75 to 80 works were sent. 51 first-time filmmakers have been added to the country’s cinema fleet and sent us their films.
The secretary of “Fajr 42” festival said: “Selecting the works was a very difficult task and the selection committee was involved in this for a month and obsessively selected the films.” 33 works have been selected to be shown in “Fajr 42” festival. Last year, 22 films should have made it to the competitive section, but we had 24 films. Also, this year we brought back the first films section to the festival in the form of a new look. 5 works of the first film were also present in the Soda section of Simorgh. We also see the presence of 4 serious animations, which is a good promise for families. Fajr festival will be opened on 11th of Bahman and films will be screened from 12th to 22nd of Bahman. The last day of showing films at the festival house is 21 Bahman.
In the continuation of the program, Amini spoke about the criticism of the presence of some people in the committee: We must accept this culture in the respected family of cinema and deal with the fact that every festival accepts a series of works and not all films are supposed to be selected. I also had films in different periods and sometimes my work was not allowed to the festival. Fajr Festival has a global reputation and fortunately we have a selection board, while some of the world’s leading festivals do not have a selection board. There were some people as members of the selection board for whom cinema is important. In my opinion, filmmakers should also respect the regulations. It is important to show kindness and empathy between cinema members at the beginning of the new year for this field.
He said about the lack of presence of women in the Fajr 42 festival selection board: We definitely use women among the members of the jury, but we could not serve them in the selection board due to the difficulty of the work.
Further, the secretary of “Fajr 42” festival said about the criticism of the presence of organic films in this period of the festival: one third of the festival belongs to the private sector. A part of the remaining two-thirds is related to the participation of organizations with the private sector. On the other hand, when the productions of the private sector have decreased and the public sector is determined to help the prosperity of cinema, is this wrong? So who should help so that the respectable cinema family is not harmed? Organizations like Oj, Surah Cinema Organization, Fatah Narration, etc., aren’t they members of cinema? Unfortunately, in this context, some friends dominate the society. If government agencies do not help to make the work, the cinema table will shrink.
He continued: I ask the media to follow this issue. Among the 106 works of the applicants to participate in Fajr 42, how many works belonged to the private sector? From our point of view, the rule of thumb is meritocracy, and we should be grateful that government bodies came to the aid of cinema.
Amini clarified about the absence of some works of well-known filmmakers: a work can be successful in the festival and fail in the screening. The cinema box office is different from the Fajr festival. A work may not be suitable for the festival, that is, it may not include the characteristics that can give it credit in the festival, but it will be successful in the screening. It is not right to select a work by the name of the director and author in the festival, but the work must defend itself.
Secretary of Fajr Film Festival, more about Tanugh Genre said in this period of the festival: Fortunately, we left the framework of apartment films; We have children’s and teenagers’ works and humor as well as hero-oriented works. In fact, the audience is faced with a variety of works.
He said about the Simorgh of the New Look and the People’s Simorgh: The New Look section has only one Simorgh, and we will inform about the People’s Simorgh in the coming days.
In another part of his speech, Amini emphasized: Last year and this year, we have tried and are trying to make the ethical discussion happen in the festival and bring peace and empathy to the cinema family. The most important priority of the festival is the people of the cinema and the respected friends of the cinema house. We made a plan since last year and luckily this year we also considered a place in cooperation with the directors of the cinema house and prepared a special card for the members of the cinema house so that friends can see all the works.
He reminded: Also, this year we are trying to ring the cinema bell in schools in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and serve them by showing special works for children and teenagers in the morning.
Amini about the part between the international Fajr 42 festival also reminded: more than 600 works were sent from 87 countries and the reception was impressive. The international section starts its work alongside the national section. This year, due to the atrocities committed by the Zionist regime against the Palestinian people, we have a special section in the field of Palestine. I must also say that we invited good guests from all over the world and there is good news ahead of this department, the news of which will be announced soon.