Marcin Luczaj, who is representing Warsaw Film festival finds FIFF well organized and is looking for new and experimental Iranian films for the upcoming edition of Warsaw Film Festival.
According to the public relations office of the 34th Fajr International Film Festival, Marcin Luczaj in an interview talked about his expectations about his presence in FIFF and compared FIFF with other international film festivals.
How do you feel about being in Iran for the first time?
Good, very good. I have always wanted to be here. I select Iranian films for our festival and I have seen lots of Iranian films, but never have a chance to be here.
What do you like about Iranian cinema?
I think Iranian cinema is very close to Polish cinema; both cinemas are based on society, based on social dramas. And for us it is the exotic culture that is more fascinating. However, we can find lots of links between the two. I mean on the surface Iranian cinema seems very exotic but at the same time it is very familiar.
How much are Polish audiences familiar with Iranian cinema?
They are quiet familiar with Iranian cinema. Iranian films are distributed in Poland. For example, in our cinema we show some of the Iranian films which were in Cannes or Berlinale, so there is a chance for them being shown in cinema. We always have one to five Iranian films every year. Last year we had a film directed by Niki Karimi and audience really liked that.
How do you usually select Iranian films for your festival?
We receive over two thousand submissions and we screen one hundred films, we pick whatever movies we like. I mean we don’t select a movie because it is from Iran, or we don’t select a movie because we like the country or not! We like to show what other movies are made outside Europe and Iran is part of that.
What do you think about the organization of the festival?
Well, it is very well organized. I have been to a lot of festivals and I don’t see any difference between Fajr and the others. It is just taking place in another city, and when you are in the festival palace it looks like other festival and film markets in Europe or Unites States, very similar.
What do you expect to see in the coming days in the festival?
We are in selection process for Warsaw film festival, so I am looking for new films from Iran. I know there are lots of ready Iranian films waiting for international premiere and we are interested to discover new names. Some of the names in the lineup are by familiar names, like Reza Dormishian.
Are you looking for something specific in the films?
We know the taste of our audience; we have been running the festival for over twenty years. Sometimes we don’t like a movie but know that our audience will like it and want to see it, so we select them. In our festival we are looking for more experimental films in terms of narrative to introduce them to Polish people because they are used to go watch traditional films. Our festival is a platform to let them watch new films and discover films which are not shown in regular cinemas.
The 34th edition of Fajr International Film Festival is being held from April 20th to April 25th, 2016 in Charsou Cineplex, under the supervision of the well-known Iranian filmmaker, Mr. Reza Mirkarimi, who is also the Managing Director of Khaneh Cinema.
For more information on Fajr International Film Festival, visit the festival website, www.fajriff.com
