The director of the FIFF stated: “It’s not possible to hold an international festival without primarily seeking national goals. We cannot achieve our goals if we neglect our national aims. We’ve been trying to present the Iranian cinema as a strategic commodity.”
According to the Public Relations Office of the 34th FIFF, Reza Mirkarimi, who had attended the first press conference of the festival, said: “This position had been offered to me months ago, but I wasn’t interested in taking it. I wouldn’t have accepted this offer unless I could leave an impact on our cinema.”
He added: “We know that there will be some problems throughout. Some even were not sure whether the festival could be held or not. At first, I tried to set up targeted programs for the festival. Who is the audience? Why do we hold this festival? Are our programs in line with the taste of our audience? Is this program going to take us to where we want to get?”
Mirkarimi also emphasized: “In order to achieve our goal, firstly, we had to study the previous editions of the festival. This happened throughout different meetings. On the other hand, the international section has been separated from the national section and it’s been being held within a different time span. It seems to me that holding these two sections separately seeks a particular purpose and more movie lovers and researchers will be attracted to this event. We have also been trying to eliminate the luxurious aspects of the festival.”
He later stated: “I daresay the Iranian cinema could be considered international. This makes our cinema superior to other cinemas, so we don’t need to give any privileges to our guests. I had predicted that there would be no need to negotiate with the guests regarding their attendance and not surprisingly they’ve mostly welcomed our invitations.”
The director of FIFF pointed out that in order for the festival to become more scientific and specialized, they have considered inviting particular guests and screening particular films.
Mirkarimi also mentioned that teamwork could be handled well in Iran and added: “Since day one, I’ve wanted to have teamwork, and I’ve asked everyone with international experience to help me achieve my goal.”
He said: “It’s not possible to hold an international festival without primarily seeking national goals. We cannot achieve our goals if we neglect our national aims. We’ve been trying to present the Iranian cinema as a strategic commodity.”
Mirkarimi also reminded that: “Festivals are organized and held by volunteer organizations worldwide. We’ve been trying to run such an organization so that volunteers could get involved in holding such festivals. We will design a website for students and anyone interested in this field. This is how we can have more contact with the young and also reduce the cost pf holding a festival like Fajr.”
34th Fajr International Film Festival will be held on April 20th to 25th 2016 in Charsoo Cineplex in Tehran.
