Anne Démy-Geroe is a film programmer and scholar with a PhD in Iranian cinema. She lectures on Asia Pacific Cinema at Griffith Film School and is a co-director of the Iranian Film Festival Australia. She is Vice President of NETPAC, the Network for the Promotion of Asia Pacific Cinema, and involved with the Asia Pacific Screen Awards.
Demy-Geroe was the inaugural director of Brisbane International Film Festival from 1991 to 2010. She is a former council member of the National Film and Sound Archive. She has worked on numerous film events and has served on many international juries. In 2003 she was awarded an Australian Centenary Medal for services to the film industry. She is a member of the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) jury at this year’s Fajr.
How did you find this year’s run?
Iranian cinema always does very well in film festivals of Australia. People love to go and see them and I think young people do enjoy the films if I get them to see. For example, Shahram Mokri’s Fish and Cat. I love that film. I Am Not Angry by Reza Dormishian is also a fantastic film. My students just loved that and I had to screen it again and again in film school. Also the Dragon Arrives by Mani Haghighi. So this kind of films, if you can find the audiences, they love them.
Is Iranian cinema popular in your country?
I think younger audiences and cinemagoers like Iranian movies. Totally I can answer yes. Because you may ask me about the general Australians and I consider people who go to the festivals and answer yes. Some Iranian films are screened in Australia and people did like them like A Separation by Asghar Farhadi or Jafar Panahi’s This Is Not a Film.
What are the characteristics of new Iranian filmmakers?
I can speak about this question a little more. The young Iranian filmmakers have fresh voices. They are playing with forms and space and time. So there are always new energies in their films. I can teach it as a university course.
Established in 1982, Fajr is an annual film event that celebrates cultural exchange, displays creative achievements of highly acclaimed cineastes, and pays tribute to local and international films and directors. Since its establishment, it has played a vital role in the development of Iranian cinema.
For all festivalgoers who are already planning their visit, check screening time and other information at Fajriff.com or email the Secretariat at Film@Fajriff.com.
Presided over by Reza Mirkarimi, the 35th edition of Fajr International Film Festival will take place from 21 to 28 April in Tehran.
