Iran to Hold Cinema Vérité Festival
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Preparations have been made for the 14th edition of Iran International Documentary Film Festival, aka the Cinema Vérité, later this month.
The cultural event is going to be held via online media on December 15-22.
Organizers have once postponed the festival due to the coronavirus restrictions, saying the delay has given the filmmakers more time to submit their works.
Director of the festival Mohammad Hamidi-Moqaddam says Iranian movie streaming platforms and video on demand (VOD) services like Filimo, TVA, and Hashure will be used to screen the movies in the upcoming event.
This year’s event includes the ‘World’s Best’ section for screening a selection of documentaries acclaimed in the international events across the world in 2020.
Held under the auspices of the Documentary and Experimental Film Center (DEFC), the upcoming festival will be paying tribute to the Iranian moviemakers that passed away over the past year, including Khosro Sinaee, Akbar Alemi, Hamid Soheili, and Manouchehr Tayyab.
A total of 30 documentaries about the Islamic Revolution, the Sacred Defense and resistance in the region will be competing for the Avini Award in Cinema Vérité 2020.
This year’s festival also introduces a new section about the coronavirus pandemic with 25 films on the short list.
A number of top Iranian and international documentarians and critics are planned to hold online workshops and panel discussions on the sidelines of the festival.
Prominent figures participating in the event are Betsy A. McLane, Bill Nichols, James Bertrand Longley, Mehrdad Oskuee, and Farhad Varahram.
Cinéma Vérité 2020 will also review the Chilean documentary film industry in a special program named “Chilean Films Panorama”.
A number of acclaimed documentaries by Chilean directors, including Francisco Bermejo’s “The Other One”, will be screened in this section.