cinema trustHasan Lotfi wrote in Etemad newspaper: A friend who is a filmmaker of Cinema Azad sends me a text in which he mentions the first official gathering in which young and amateur filmmakers were present, who later worked under the name of Cinema Azad. The time of the meeting was on October 11, 1348, and apparently there were two brothers (Basir and Naseeb Nasibi).
Their intention is to start a filmmaking process that, with little resources, can stand in front of the professional cinema of their time and create something different. What were the achievements of this gathering and how Azadiha cinema after a few years and with the victory of the 57th revolution took an important part of Iran’s professional cinema as their own is not the subject of this article. The point that stood out in that text (the text sent by my friend) was the suggestion to select the eleventh day of the month as the day of the short film. There is no doubt that the bidders’ attachment to Azad Cinema made them choose this day for the short film. But with a bit of fairness and delay, we find out that if short film day separate from cinema day is to enter the official calendar of the country, there is no better day than October 11 and a more blessed event than the first step in the formation of free cinema for short films. At least the occasion is better than National Cinema Day in Iran. But the important point that makes this proposal to be implemented with doubt is not unrelated to the cinema itself.
In the world, the history of cinema begins with the first official screening of a film, which was ironically short. After that, the films that were made and screened are in the list of short films in the history of cinema. With this account, short films are older in the world and in Iran than long films. Apart from this, Azad cinema and its filmmakers are a praiseworthy part of the history of Iranian cinema. Separating it and dedicating a day to the name of a short film does not untie any of the knots of this cinema and does not add a bit to its credibility. Perhaps it would be better to support the growing movement and status of short films in the country instead of dedicating a day to Iranian short films, and in addition to that, in the festival of young cinema or an independent seminar, while honoring the efforts and role of the founders and The filmmakers of Azad Cinema made a bridge between different generations of filmmaking. A bridge that shows what short films in Iran have gone through to reach their current position.