Submissions From 19 Nations Approved Until Mid February

TEHRAN.(Iranart) – The main international competition section of the 36th Fajr International Film Festival will comprise feature and short film categories, each with 15 movies (12 foreign and three domestic productions).

According to the public relations office of the festival, so far films from 19 countries, namely Italy, South Korea, Russia, China, England, Germany, France, Taiwan, India and Georgia have been selected by the selection committee. However, they may not end up in the final list as there is still time for more submissions (until March 21) and the committee will announce the final line-up shortly after the submission is closed. 

To be accepted in the festival, the foreign film should not have been shown in any Central Asian and Middle East festival. Regarding Iranian films, submissions should not have been screened in any foreign festival.   

A 7-member jury, comprising five foreign and two Iranian jurors, will evaluate the films in competition section and award one Golden Simorgh statuette to the best film and five Silver Simorgh awards for best directing, script, actor, actress and the best achievement in one of the technical fields of editing, score, cinematography, set and costume design.

The poster for the competition section named ‘Cinema Salvation,’ designed by illustrator and graphic designer Hamidreza Beidaghi, has been published.

The 36th FIFF is slated for April 19-27 and will screen a selection of the best films made in and outside Iran. Celebrated filmmaker Reza Mirkarimi will serve as secretary of the festival for the third consecutive year. The event has been held independently from the national Fajr Film Festival for the past four years.