http://old.irandocfest.ir/en/12_Festival Sun, 19 May 2024 08:45:34 GMT /skins/default/en/15festival/ch01_newsfeed_logo.gif http://old.irandocfest.ir/ 100 70 en Copyright© Irandocfest.ir, all rights reserved Sun, 19 May 2024 08:45:34 GMT The 12th Festival 60 http://old.irandocfest.ir/en/news/4190/12th-cinema-verite-announces-the-award-winning-films Jury Special Prize – Short and Mid-length Documentaries Festival trophy, honoring diploma, and cash prize of 2000 USD is awarded to “Lulu: The Pearl Boxer” directed by Asimwe John Bibagamba from Tanzania Best Short Documentary Prize Festival Trophy, honoring diploma, and cash prize of 3000 USD is awarded to “Mahiak” directed by Farah Zare from Iran   Best Mid-length Documentary Prize Festival trophy, honoring diploma, and cash prize of 4000 USD is jointly awarded to the directors of “Shouting at the Wind” Siavash Jamali and Ata Mehrdad from Iran   Short and Mid-Length jurors: Fatemeh Motamed-Arya (Iran), Bruno Bettati (Chile), and Gerhard Wissner (Germany)   Jury Special Mention – Full-length Documentaries    Jury Special Mention is awarded to “Nine Month War” directed by Laszlo Csuja from Hungary and Qatar   Jury Special Prize – Full-length Documentaries   Festival trophy, honoring diploma, and cash prize of 2000 USD is awarded to “Alicia” directed by “Maasja Oomes” from The Netherlands     Best Full-Length Documentary Prize Festival Trophy, honoring diploma, and cash prize of 5000 USD is awarded to “Exodus” directed by Bahman Kiarostami from Iran     Feature length jurors: Irina Shatalova (Russia), Casper Sonnen (The Netherlands), and Mohammad Atebbai (Iran)     ]]> The 12th Festival Tue, 08 Jan 2019 06:17:05 GMT http://old.irandocfest.ir/en/news/4190/12th-cinema-verite-announces-the-award-winning-films http://old.irandocfest.ir/en/news/4136/gianfranco-pannone-i-know-iran-by-its-cinema About the trip to Tehran he said: "This is the first time I come to Iran. I had not seen Tehran until now, but through my friend, Babak Karimi, I have a long relationship with Iran and its cinema. That’s the same way I got to know Iranian cinema and Kiarostami. Also, when I was teaching at the University of Rome, I had several Iranian students. I must say that though I have not been in Iran before, I know Iran well. I like Iraninan culture, cinema, and music very much. I came to Iran with the invitation of the Cinema Verite Film Festival. I'm glad I’m here with my latest film and I can talk to the Iranian people about documentaries.” About Za World, Pannone said: “This film begins with Cesare Zavattini but is not generally about him. I started from Zavattini and entered the world where is his cultural background; a village the Northern Italy where he was born. Luzzara was an agricultural province, with many artistic movements originated there; a city was full of painters, poets, and revolutionaries. Zavattini was a revolutionary too. He was one of the pioneers of Italian Neorealism. Neorealism gave so much energy to the world’s cinema by putting humans and everyday life in its center. This is exactly the stick that connects Italian Neorealist cinema and Iranian cinema.” He continued: "What I narrate in my film is a village, its past and future. We begin the film with an interesting words that Zavattini used to repeat. 'If we look at the reality carefully and lovingly, we can go beyond imagination and fantasy,' he said. I went to Luzzara and tried to follow the signs remained from Zavattini. I'm waiting to see what the audience says here and see through them if I managed to do what I was looking for or not. What I want to bring out with this film is attention and love in Zavattini’s look to the world around him. Although he used to write fictional screenplays, he had a realistic view and concern that was closer to the documentary. For Zavattini, the face of a peasant was much more important than the face of an actor. The Italian filmmaker continued: "The shooting of this documentary took a year and a half, because I wanted to narrate all four seasons. Shooting took place between 2016 and 2017 and the film was released in 2018. For those who saw the film in Italy, it was very interesting and different. The audience commonly said they have discovered a character whoes importance was forgotten. In today's world, we have hectic days that often take us to oblivion. We forget that we had good things in the past, things that we now have lost. An interesting reaction of Italian audiences was that many young people discovered the Zavattini through the film and tried to find out more about him. Another interesting thing about the film is a young man from Ghana who starts rap music with Zavathini lyrics. It’s fascinating that many young Italians do not know the Zavathini, but a young man from Ghana does. This man made the Italian young generation get closer to Zavattini, and not to consider him just an old man of the past generation who made some good movies.” About his knowledge of Iranian cinema, Pannone also reminded: “I know Iranian cinema very well and I often show movies by great Iranian filmmakers. I introduced Kiarostami and Farhadi. I like Kiarostami’s view to the world around him. I have no doubt that a movie as Close-Up is one of top five films in the world in the past 50 years. The interesting thing is that every time I see this movie with my students, in the end, my eyes shed tears. These are exactly the same tears that I experience at the end of Umberto D. by Vittorio De Sica. I also love Farhadi's cinema because it brought the urban middle-class to the cinema’s central scene. He placed women at the center of attention. Farhadi is a very modern director. The Salesman was also very beautiful. In the case of Iranian documentary cinema, I must say that it is very interesting.” "I work for the Mediterranean Film Festival, which takes place annually in Rome," he said about the activities of his festivals. “We usually show a documentary and a narrative Iranian film each year at that festival. We usually select films from other festivals. Of course, some colleagues send us films to consider. They send films from the Berlin Film Festival, Cinéma du Réel and other European festivals. We select 10 films around 70. I am a member of the selection committee. Of course, most of my work is in the documentaries. I have been working on this festival for almost 9 years now. Of course, my job at this festival is  a side-job, and my work is primarily filmmaking and teaching. I try to gain peace by making myself busy doing different things.”   ]]> The 12th Festival Mon, 24 Dec 2018 08:03:19 GMT http://old.irandocfest.ir/en/news/4136/gianfranco-pannone-i-know-iran-by-its-cinema http://old.irandocfest.ir/en/news/4135/a-house-for-you-is-the-top-winner The full list of the selected films of the 12th Cinema Verite are:   Art and Experience Award The statue of Art and Experience and 80 million Rials were jointly awarded to Babak Behdad for "Baharestan" and Armin Isarian for "Mysteries of the Lake".   Doc TV Award The plate and the 70 million Rials prize of the DocTV to Yasser Talebi for "Beloved".   Documentaries on Iranian Mines and Mining Industry The Third Prize: The statue of the festival, the honorary diploma, and 100 million Rials were jointly awarded to "Green Face of Desert" by Fathollah Amiri and "Stone And Bread" by Mohammad Abdollahi. The Second Prize: The statue of the festival, the honorary diploma, and 120 million Rials to Mohammad Eskandarzadeh for "Sweet Salt". The First Prize: The statue of the festival, the honorary diploma, and 150 million Rials to Ezzatollah Parvazeh for "Galina". Jury members of Iranian Mining Industry Documentaries: Farshad Fedaiyan, Seyyed Hossein Haghgou, and Mehrdad Zahedian   Martyr Avini Award The honorary diploma and 30 million Rials to Mohsen Zarei for "Balochistan". Avini bronze statue, honorary diploma, and 80 million Rials to Mahan Khomamipour for "Simulation of Mr Yellow". Avini silver statue, honorary diploma, and 100 Million Rials to Mohammadreza Vatandoust for "Lesek". The jury's special prize, including the Avini golden statue, honorary diploma, and 80 million Rials to Dr Vahid Hamidi, the character of "The Men of Life" by Yahya Rezaee, for his commitment and expertise. The special jury prize included Avini golden statue, the honorary diploma, and 70 million Rials to Majid Jafari Lahijani, the author of "Art in the Heat of the Revolution", for his admirable effort. Avini golden statue, the honorary diploma, and 120 million Rials to Vahid Chavosh for "Memories of the War Reporter". Jury members of Avini Award: Akbar Nabavi, Mohammad Hadi Nayiji, and Panahbarkhoda Rezaei   The Honoring Award On the eve of the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, in the Honoring section of the 12th Cinema Verite, the turquoise statue of the festival, the honorary plate, and 200 million Rials to Hossein Torabi and Manouchehr Moshiri.   International Competition Special Jury Award for short and half-length documentaries: The statue of the festival, honorary diploma, and the $ 2,000 to Asimwe John Bibagamba from Tanzania for "Lulu: The Pearl Boxer". Best Directing for a Documentary Short: The statue of the festival, honorary diploma, and $ 3,000 to Farah Zare from Iran for "Mahiak". Best Directing for a Mid-Lenght Documentary: The statue of the festival, honorary diploma, and $ 4,000 to Siavash Jamali and Ata Mehrad from Iran for "Shouting at the Wind". Jury of short and mid-length documentaries: Fatemeh Motamed Aria (Iran), Bruno Bettati (Chile), and Gerhard Wissner (Germany)   Full-length Documentaries Competition The honorary plate of the jury: "Nine Month War" by László Csuja from Hungary and Qatar. Special Jury Award: The statue of the festival, honorary diploma, and $ 2,000 for "Alicia" by Maasja Ooms from Netherlands. Best Documentary Direction: The statue of the festival, honorary diploma, and the $ 5,000 to Bahman Kiarostami from Iran for "Exodus". Jury of full-length documentaries: Irina Shatalova (Russia), Casper Sonnen (The Netherlands), and Mohammad Atebbai (Iran)   National Competetion Best Music: The statue of the festival, honorary diploma, and 80 million Rials to Afshin Azizi, composer of "A House for You". Best Sound: The statue of the festival, honorary diploma, and 80 million Rials were jointly awarded to Sadegh Rezania and Mehrdad Noormohammadi, for sound recording and sound mixing of "Little Owl’s Song". Best Narration Writing and Narrating: The statue of the festival, honorrary diploma, and 80 million Rials jointly were awarded to Mina Mashhmadi Mehdi and Hadi Esfandiari, narration writer and narrator of "Where the Wind Blows". Best Editing: The statue of the festival, honorary diploma, and 80 million Rials to Babak Heydari for "Khateme". Best Cinematography: The statue of the festival, honorary diploma, and 80 million Rials to Pouyan Aghababie for "Mysteries of the Lake". Best Research: The honorary diploma and 30 million Rials to Javad Vatani for "VARS"; and the statue of the festival, honorary diploma, and 80 million Rials to Armin Isarian for "Mysteries of the Lake". Best Directing of a Short Documentary: Honarary diploma and 30 million Rials to Azadeh Bizargiti for "Waterfolks"; the statue of the festival, honorary diploma, and 100 million Riyals to Orod Attarpoor for "Persepolis-Chicago". Best Directing for a Mid-length Documentary: The statue of the festival, honorary diploma, and 120 million Rials to Maria Mavoti for "Utopia". Best Directing for a Full-length Documentary: Honorary diploma and 30 million Rials to Hadi Zarei and Mehdi Zarei for "Khateme". The statue of the festival, honorary diploma, and 150 million Rials to Mehdi Bakhshi Moghaddam for "A House For You". Best Documentary (Producer): Turquoise medal, festival statue, honorary diploma, and 200 Million Rials to Mahdi Shamohammadi, Producer of "A House For You". Special Jury Award: The statue of festival, honorary diploma, and 120 million Rials to Zeinab Tabrizy, director of "All That’s Missing". Jury of National Competition: Mahvash Sheikholeslami, Alireza Ghasemkhan, Mohammad Hassan Damanzan, Sudabeh Mojaveri, Vahid Moosaian, Saeed Aghighi, and Arash Lahouti   Festival's Director Special Prize: The statue of the festival, honorary diploma, and 100 million Rials to Mehdi Noormohammadi for "Little Owl’s Song".   Audience Choice Award: The statue of the festival, honorary diploma, and 150 million Rials to Dr. Mohammad Ala, the producer of "In the Realm of the Spider-Tailed Viper".   ]]> The 12th Festival Mon, 24 Dec 2018 07:24:17 GMT http://old.irandocfest.ir/en/news/4135/a-house-for-you-is-the-top-winner http://old.irandocfest.ir/en/news/4134/vitaly-mansky-documentaries-should-not-be-propaganda He who spent about 20 years on the making of Putin's Witnesses, stated about Cinema Verite: "This is the first time I have come to Iran, but it's not the first time I have my films screened here. Two years ago, my documentary, Under the Sun, was featured at this festival and won the International Jury Special Prize. I find Cinema Verite very good, alive, and great film festival. What's most interesting is the large number audience attending the festival.” "I was born in Ukraine, and I am currently living in Lithuania, but I am the chairman of a festival at St. Petersburg, Russia," said Minsky about the festival that he manages. “It’s called ArtDoc Festival. Our festival is held at the same time as Cinema Verite. This year, this festival was held three days earlier and therefore I was able to come to Tehran. Our festival is for documentary films. Each year in ArtDoc 120 films are featured. This festival is the greatest and most important and festival in Russia. Of course, our festival is held with the aid of private sponsorship and support for those who work with us.” He added: “So far, there was no Iranian documentaries in ArtDoc. This festival is for Russian language films or films made in Russia. Russian films are produced everywhere in the world, that’s why our festival is an international one. This year a Belgian film won the festival award. Last year, a Dutch film won it. The films we present in the festival must be creative. I’ve seen many Iranian films in various festivals. Iranian cinema has a special view of life. I like this calm feature of the Iranians. Iran's cinema has a widespread look to the world and sees different aspects of the world and life.” The Russian filmmaker said about his film, Putin's Witnesses: "This film is about the rise of Vladimir Putin in 1998, which coincided with the Russian New Year. People were suddenly faced with his election. The film narrates who discovered Putin and brought him to the presidency. We also paid attention to Putin himself. His emergence and election was an unusual event. In fact, I made this film about the groups that introduced Putin. It took me twenty years to make it. In fact, in the middle, I stopped working; I started the project twenty years ago, and then I held on for some time. I waited to see what was happening to finish the job. I waited to publish the film when the people around the world demanded something new about Putin and the story of his emergance. The shooting finished in 2002 and the film was released in the summer of 2018.” He continued: "I have sent this film to about sixty festivals. I featured this documentary at Toronto, Carlo Vivari, London, IDFA, Leibniz and many other places. The film recieved great attention from critics and ordinary audiences.” "The most important thing about a movie is that it should not be propaganda," said Mansky about the most important feature of a documentary. “A good movie should respect its audience and give them the opportunity to think. I tried to make such films. A documentary should give people information about the society in which they live. Putin's Witnesses is not only important for Russia and its people, but also for the people of any country. The film gives people the opportunity to learn more about the politics of a big country like Russia.” He also said about the screening of his film in Russia: "The film is not yet featured in Russia. Of course, some people has watched it online. After online streaming, it found a lot of fans in the cyberspace. I think one day this film will be screened in Russia. We still did not show it there officially, so we do not know if it gets permission or not. In Russia, movies require government approval to be screened. The film has received a lot of criticism on the Internet, and its feedback has been very good.”   ]]> The 12th Festival Mon, 24 Dec 2018 06:50:03 GMT http://old.irandocfest.ir/en/news/4134/vitaly-mansky-documentaries-should-not-be-propaganda http://old.irandocfest.ir/en/news/4133/eric-spitzer-marlyn-a-phenomenon-in-12th-cinema-verite In a conversation with the public relations of Cinema Verite, he said about the workshop: "I brought some sound and music samples to Iran, which I used in my workshop. These samles are parts of the audio work I have done in one of Werner Herzog's films. I composed the music and recorded sound for this film. In fact, I did everything in the field of sound. After talking about this film, I talked about sound recording on the scene, which is a very interesting topic for myself. On the second day, I talked about sound editing and soundtrack in the documentaries and their functions." Spitzer continued: "The reason I work with one filmmaker is that I want to do the sounds in all areas of a movie, to be able to put my stamp on the sound of that film, and do all the sounds of it. That's why I'm always recording raw sounds to use for my work in films. For workshops in Iran, I also brought a lot of these audio samples as well as many films that I constantly record so I can use their sounds, sounds of the environment, funny sounds... but as I guessed I did not get the chance to use all of them." He has been recording videos with his camera during his presence in Iran and his workshop. "I archive images and sounds. I'm interested in archiving both of them. I do not know when I find time to watch all of them, but this does not diminish my interest. I have a big studio and I use these images and sounds there. I have studied Directing at UCLA; I know this profession very wel and I’m considered a filmmaker. I’m also a composer and have composed soundtracks in cinema and as a freelancer. But from some point in my life, I prefered to work in the field of sounds, the sounds are more appealing to me, and I also know it better. I also paint and I am very interested in it.” Spitzer continued: "I think filmmaking is the most complete form of art. You create stories, you create characters, you give them birth, you can let them survive, you can kill them, you can move the story further more emotionally with good music. Along with familiarity with artistic and cinematic forms, luckily I am a sound engineer and technically capable. This electronic knowledge makes me stay up to date and survive. These days, it’s not enough for you to just be an artist. You must have up-to-date knowledge. Nowadays, even cinematography managers who have a very high-level job, will have trouble if they don't updated themselves, and won’t be able to work with the equipment and will stay behind.” About Iranian cinema he said: "I cannot name Iranian films that I've seen, but I'm familiar with this cinema, and I have seen many Iranian films because I know that Iranian cinema is very famous and it has many good films and filmmakers. I traveled to Vienna last year, and over there I also watched some Iraninan films. Since I'm invited to almost all the cinematic festivals, there are always Iranian films that I watch. The fact that I can not name them is not because they have not been impressive, just because in these festivals you tend to come out of this hall and go into another - Perhaps the only downside of the cinematic festivals. Unfortunately, I'm not an Iranian cinema specialist, but I've seen a lot of Iranian films.” At the end, about the use of analogue sounds in the age of digital technology, Speitzer said: "I think that technology might not be a priority. Unfortunately, even in Europe, we have the problem that some young sound recordists are not willing to do good sound recording and transfer their job to their mixing department, while a bad sound will never transfere into a good one in mixing. This is a worldwide issue. For example, in Europe, we sometimes have to use the simplest form of sound recording due to lack of the necessary technology. Sometimes I think it's a privilege. Because if this kind of sound recording is done in a simple but good and high quality manner, it allows the audience to follow the film and enjoy the story.”   ]]> The 12th Festival Mon, 24 Dec 2018 06:36:07 GMT http://old.irandocfest.ir/en/news/4133/eric-spitzer-marlyn-a-phenomenon-in-12th-cinema-verite http://old.irandocfest.ir/en/news/4132/documentary-cinema-is-one-of-the-country-s-main-artistic-aabilities  The Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance said that our documentary cinema, with its various capabilities, is considered one of the country's main artistic capabilities. Seyyed Abbas Salehi, on visiting the 12th Iranian International Film Festival, Cinema Verite, said: "If we consider Iran's cinema as a very significant capacity of the Islamic Revolution in its forty years of growth, documentary cinema is an important part of this great capacity." He continued: "About a thousand Iranian documentaries are produced annually, which indicate the production capacity of our cinema. Pioneers and young filmmakers have created significant space in documentary cinema, and we are proud of this cinema as part of our cultural and artistic identity." Salehi explained, "Our documentary cinema is well-known around the world, and the world of cinema has well understood the abilities, charm and technique of our documentary cinema." The Minister of Islamic Culture and Guidance stated that documentary cinema, on one hand, is a bridge between Iran's culture and the world and, on the other, a bridge to the real atmosphere of Iranian society. He added: "Our documentary cinema can be a backup for the development of the country. This kind of cinema, with illustrating the social atmosphere, is considered a narrator and a historian." He stressed: "One of the serious discussions that we had in the government meetings was that documentary cinema could be used to better introduce the projects in various fields such as mining, healthcare, and other areas of social development." Salehi said: "I feel as we've grown in documentary filmmaking, we have also made progress in consuming them. There was a time that the audience of documentary cinema were a very specific minority, but over the time, the documentary cinema, with more diverse topics, genres, and techniques, found more audience." In the end, he said: "By digitizing cinema theaters in cultural and art centers, venues that didn't have cinematic use but could have, we were able to provide new spaces for watching films and documentaries."   ]]> The 12th Festival Mon, 24 Dec 2018 06:21:26 GMT http://old.irandocfest.ir/en/news/4132/documentary-cinema-is-one-of-the-country-s-main-artistic-aabilities http://old.irandocfest.ir/en/news/4128/nicolas-philibert-i-m-fascinated-by-kiarostami-s-experimentalism In his documentary, Philibert takes us to the heart of the hospital where nurses get trained. In his film, we get familiar with the nurses' concerns and the way they are trained; their fragility and how they try to do their best for patients. A documentary with a very human perspective. Philibert made Each and Every Moment after an embolism and being admitted to the hospital. In this regard, he says: "I think we create films based on our personal experiences. For instance, when I was younger, I used to go hiking and made a movie on the same subject, but you choose which experience to maneuver. On the other hand, at many times, you do not know where the subject came from and why you are so eager to make it.” "For me, the subject is not the most important point," Philibert said about the variety of subjects in his films. “The most important thing is our view to those subjects. For me, there is no good or bad subject. You can make a very good movie on common and banal subjects and you can make a bad film on a very good and great subject. The beauty of cinema and the importance of the film is not related to the importance of the subject matter. To be plain, it's more important for me to understand the world I live in, to understand a little better who I am, and what I'm doing in this world. I am curious about the world, I have an inexorable passion for understanding new things. I make movies to learn, to tell the audience what to think.” "I have seen a lot of Iranian films," said the French filmmaker about his acquaintance with Iranian cinema. “I know and meet many Iraninan filmmakers. In France, we know how valuable Iranian cinema is. Many people love Iranian cinema and its great filmmakers, people like Abbas Kiarostami and Asghar Farhadi.” Traveling to Iran for the first time, Nicolas Philibert said: "Fortunately, Cinema Verite is a very well planned festival, it has kind staff, and most importantly, it has a full, diverse, attractive and rich program. Unfortunately, I do not have the opportunity to watch all the documentaries in this festival, but I really like to see the documentaries in the National Competition. You can watch the documentaries in the International Section at any other festival, but not these Iraninan films. Maybe I watch a few Iranian films." He emphasized: "For me, the poetic expression of Iranian cinema is very attractive; also, its philosophical view, especially in the works of Kiarostami, who is my favorite filmmaker. I met him several times and I was very impressed by his personality, his art, and his behavior. After he died, I wrote a note about him for an English Newspaper. For me, Kiarostami's fascinating feature was his experimentalism. For example, in Close-Up, the movie I adore." About the drama in the documentary cinema, this filmmaker said: "In all my films, in addition to drama, there is surely some humor too. I think it's necessary to laugh. In fact, we need to laugh in order to survive. Antoine Chekhov said, 'In life, all emotions are mixed together; deep and shallow, transcendent and ridiculous.' This is life and we do not need any subject, because all these emotions are mixed up. For me, this is the process of finding a subject, and all of this is human comedy. As a filmmaker, the only thing I know is that a movie should not pretend and should not be so sophisticated that it prevents the audience from understanding it. It just have to point out the issue and highlight the visual aspect of the subject. Otherwise, it lacks the cinematic feature, because the audience has not been able to reach the depths of the film and the subject; everything has remained in the surface, hidden.” He said: "I don’t think the film should take a step forward in convincing the audience, and it should not dictate a point to them, to make them ask this or that. Of course, the film will be more interesting if it gives its audience elements that make them think, instead of telling them what to think and what not. They should be able to free their thoughts while watching the movie. The film is not a rigorous statement, nor is a university thesis for the director to issue, and for the audience to be condemned to respect its all aspects. You should see and check your audience as a person and a subject, not as a bird that you are supposed to feed it. The film should connect you with a level of mystery. The film should be able to keep your questions and open them to you, not to answer them.” "For me, documenting is not the first stage to make a narrative film," said Philibert. “I know that many people, even filmmakers, do not consider documentaries as true films and true cinema. They believe that it’s not movie until it’s a fiction movie; and it does not matter whether you are at the start of your career or it’s 40 years that you are making films. This idea that documentary is not a complete movie and it doesn’t have any story to narrate and engage the audience must be changed. People often ask me when will I make my narrative movie? And I always say that I have already made a narrative movie. What do you mean? The documentary is an extremely good medium for storytelling. From the moment you turn on the camera until it turns off, you are telling a story. The documentary is never a movie with no judgment and only with the filmmaker's interpretation. It always has a view. The documentary is always closer to the filmmaker’s view than a film that aims to reconstruct reality. Therefore, a documentary filmmaker does not have a neutral view, but a personal view like any other filmmaker." He said: “As a documentary filmmaker, you need to be aware that your responsibility is multiplied and you have to guard people’s dignity. An ignorant filmmaker can change the fate of a subject or person for worse.”   ]]> The 12th Festival Wed, 19 Dec 2018 06:19:00 GMT http://old.irandocfest.ir/en/news/4128/nicolas-philibert-i-m-fascinated-by-kiarostami-s-experimentalism http://old.irandocfest.ir/en/news/4127/motamed-aria-cinema-verite-is-the-best-model-for-iran-s-narrative She, who is one of this year’s jury members of the International Contest, talked about her interest in documentary cinema: "I have always been following documentary cinema with great interest, not only the Iranian documentaries, but also the international ones. I’ve had also some experiences in making documentaries, which were completely personal, including a documentary about Aruna Vasudev, known as the "Mother of Asian Cinema". Motamed-Aria continued: "In past years, I've been following documentary cinema more than the narrative one. From the latest documentary by Werner Herzog to British documentaries about the Seventeen and Eighteen centuries. I've been following all these films seriously, especially documentaries by filmmakers who were also working in the field of narrative cinema, filmmakers such as Peter Greenaway, who before becoming one of the UK greatest filmmakers in the field of documentary, reconstructed real events in fictional format. Also Bernardo Bertolucci, who died recently, and has a very fascinating documentary about Abadan and Iranian Oil Industry. Referring to the social issues and concerns of the day in documentaris, she said: “We are more interested in recording social issues in our documentaries, and I feel that we take this aspect of documentary cinema more serious than other approaches. There are few filmmakers such as Mojtaba Mirtahmasb or Rakhshan Bini-Etemad, that along with recording social issues, are also recording personalities; filmmakers who, along with daily events, are also aware of the historical capacities of our country. Of course, Iranian documentaries are very powerful in commenting on social issues. Still, I believe that social documentaries generally tend to have a heavier mood than the actual events, and this irritates me a bit.” When we asked Motamed-Aria what do you think about the fact that some people believe today’s Iranian documentary cinema is much better than it’s narrative cinema, she said: "I’m so glad you asked this. I believe that Cinema Verite Film Festival can be a great example for our narrative cinema and Fajr Film Festival. Cinema Verite selects professional films and jury members for its various sectors, and presents these works to documentary enthusiasts. In the end, the movie theaters are supposed to be filled with the audience, and what's better than no empty seat in the theater when my friends came to watch The Eyes of Orson Welles late at night. These nights, we saw long lines for watching documentaries, which I think is important. This can be considered as a model for holding similar cinematic events.”   ]]> The 12th Festival Wed, 19 Dec 2018 06:16:15 GMT http://old.irandocfest.ir/en/news/4127/motamed-aria-cinema-verite-is-the-best-model-for-iran-s-narrative http://old.irandocfest.ir/en/news/4125/12th-cinema-verite-opened-with-for-freedom In 1978-79, and collaborating with Fereydoun Reypour, Karim Davami, Ali Sadeghi, Ebrahim Ghazizadeh, Manouchehr Haghaniparast, Hossein Rafiee (Cinematographers), Eshagh Khanzadi, Mohsen Roshan, Sadegh Alami, Mohammad-Reza Delapak (Sound Recorders), Bahram Reypour (Editor), Heidargholi Khodabandelou, Ali Alami (Cinematography Assistants), Hossein Torabi recorded various events of the Islamic Revolution and the referendum for Islmaic Republic in 12 provinces of the country. This resulted in the acclaimed documentary "For Freedom", the documentary that premiered on September 1979, on the reopening of National Film Institute of Iran. Later, "For Freedom" was selected by the historian and film critic Mark Cousins as one of 10 influential documentaries of all time (The Documentaries That Shook the World) and was screened in London in 2007, along with prominent documentaries such as The Triumph of the Will, Bowling for Columbine, Heshang: The River Elegy, Minamata: The Victims and Their World,  The Thin Blue Line, Death of a Nation, and Michael Buerk's BBC report on Ethiopia and The Sorrow and the Pity.   Introduction of the Special Section: Islamic Revolution's Documentaries The special section of the 12th Iranian International Documentary Film Festival is dedicated to the selected documentaries about the Islamic Revolution. In this section, 11 documentaries and documentary series, directed both by pioneers of Iranian cinema and young filmmakers, are going to be screened. The screening of the historical documentaries about the Islamic Revolutionary, especially the works of the country's greatest filmmakers, is an important part of reviewing the Islamic Revolution’s documentaries. The films include: For Freedom (Hossein Torabi), Search 1 (Amir Naderi), Newcomers (Kianoush Eyari), The Beating of History (Asghar Ferdoust, Davood Kanaani), Towards Freedom (Majid Jafari, Masoud Jafari Jozani), Those Days (Bijan Saliani, Jean Crilean), and I Left My Youth Back in Revolution Street (Manouchehr Moshiri).   Young Generation, Revolution, Cinema Verite The new view of the Islamic Revolution special section of  Cinema Verite belongs to the documentaries  by young filmmakers made in 2000s and 2010s –  the Revolution viewed by filmmakers who, three decades after this event, has presented a different image of it to the audience. These documentaries are: The Shots That Vanished (Hamid Jafari), Black Clouds (Mehdi Shamommadi), Lost and Forgotten (Mohammad Reza Farzad).   Revolution in Six Narratives In 2009 the movie producer, Pejman Lashkaripour, collaborated with six directors in making a documentary series called The Revolution in the Six Narratives for the Documentary and Experimental Film Center (DEFC) – documentaries that depict a different aspect of this event. These six narratives are: First Narrative: Apollo 58 (Hamed Khosravi), Second Narrative: 62 Days of Strike ( Mohammad Jafari), Third Narrative: Memories of the Revolution, Layla’s Lover (Farahnaz Sharifi), Fourth Narrative: The Dark Side of A Picture (Alireza Ghasemkhan), Fifth Narrative: The Interpretation of A Dream (Javad Mozababadi), Sixth Narrative: The Last Ring (Shahram Miraab Aqdam).   ]]> The 12th Festival Tue, 18 Dec 2018 08:23:42 GMT http://old.irandocfest.ir/en/news/4125/12th-cinema-verite-opened-with-for-freedom http://old.irandocfest.ir/en/news/4124/entezami-cinema-verite-is-a-reference-to-the-search-for-essence-of-truth It is now more than six decades that Iranian documentary cinema has played an effective role in the Iranian art and culture. The coincidence of 12th International Documentary Film Festival with the 40th anniversary of Islamic Revolution of Iran reminds us of this valuable and unmatched presence. Celebrating the pioneers of Islamic Revolution cinema, reviewing their works, as well as holding the 9th Shahid Avini Award about Islamic Revolution, Resistance and Sacred Defense (8-Year Iran-Iraq War) are signs of the responsible look of documentary cinema. Cinema Verite is a reference to the search for essence of the truth, and this is a distinctive aspect of the documentary cinema. The documentary filmmaker tries to find the elixir of truth in the realm of reality, and this is the perfect and ideal state of a documentary. An innovative and artistic view to the reality is a bridge from media to art. What makes the Iranian documentary cinema praiseworthy today is its substantial documentaries and its effective and continuous presence in prestigious international arenas. I thank all the artists and activists of the documentary cinema and wish them continuous success, health, and well-being.   Hossain Entezami Deputy Minister & Head of Iran's Cinema Organization   ]]> The 12th Festival Tue, 18 Dec 2018 08:20:42 GMT http://old.irandocfest.ir/en/news/4124/entezami-cinema-verite-is-a-reference-to-the-search-for-essence-of-truth