I Was Curious to Know about Iran, German Critic Says
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Micheal Ranze, a German journalist and film critic, in an interview talked about his first experience in Iran and the 33rd Fajr International Film Festival (FIFF).
According to the public relations office of the festival, Micheal Ranze, the German journalist and member of German film critics as well as FIPRECE in an interview compared FIFF to other international film Festivals.
He called his first experience in Iran “fantastic” and said, “It’s a wonderful experience. I was curious to know about Iran, knowing about Iran is interesting for those who are coming from abroad. I want to know about your country."
"I am a member of German film critic association and also a member of international film critic association of FIPRESCE. I am excited to discover the country and the culture. I hope to see a lot of people and there are a lot of cinemas and I want to see many Iranian films.”
Ranze referred to the Iranian cinema and noted, “In Germany I can only see those of Iranian films which are distributed in there and there are only about 2 or 3 films each year. Unfortunately, there are few numbers of films and even it is in that case that you are so lucky to live in a big city.
This journalist pointed to the specific features of Iranian cinema and commented, “There are directors like Abbas Kiarostami whose films are very different. His films have very different stories and the story is told in a very unusual way. I have seen very good films from Asghar Farhadi like A Separation. This film was also a good one and showed Iranian society very well. But there is not a rule for Iranian directors. Iranian directors are different and each has its own approach. But generally I am here to discover the same issues.”
The German journalist pointed to the separation of the national and international sections of the 33rd FIFF and added, “Raising the focus on internationality and introducing this cinema is the main reason I am here. I am writing for some film magazines in Germany and also I write for a German Newspaper. So more people would know about Iran’s cinema.”
As the jury member of Locarno, Venice and Toronto film festivals, he compared international section of the Fajr Film Festival with other film festivals and noted, “That’s a difficult question. You know this is the first festival I have been in a press conference. Generally, in most film festivals, they really don’t care about journalists. But as a journalist and someone who has been in many international festival I should say there is a same routine for every festivals looking at film schedules, watching films, going to the press conference, making interviews.”
At the end he pointed to his expectations of FIFF and continued, “Of course I am curious about films so at first I expect to see good films. I am also interested to discover the city and all about the country.”
The 33rd Fajr International Film Festival is held from April 25th to May 2nd 2015 in Tehran. This is the first year that international section of FIFF is being held separately from national section.