Trust cinema – Alireza Shojanoori – Member of Fajr Film Festival’s Policy Council – Emphasizing that cinema and Fajr Festival should be detoxified, he said: Filmmakers should be helped to make films without interference. People of cinema should gather together again because we cannot have “cinema” by scattering cinematographers from each other.
This cinematographer, who has had a history of managing film festivals at various times, including the Fajr World Festival, and recently became a member of the Fajr Film Festival Policy Council by the head of the Cinema Organization, in a conversation with ISNA about the activities of this council and new approaches in the national festival and Fajr International expressed some points.
Will Fajr festival be different this year?
First, in response to whether the achievement of the policy council, which includes well-known names, is going to lead to holding a special Fajr festival, he said yes, I think we will naturally have a special festival due to the conditions we are in, but It is not yet clear what form and how it will be held. Of course, it is not possible to have a different festival quickly in this short time, and even if there was a lot of time, it would still not be possible to make a decision quickly, because a detoxification of cinema and Fajr Festival should be done in order to gradually move towards a balanced festival in To have the dignity of the Iranian people and cinema; Therefore, what we will see in this period will definitely be different from what it has been so far, but we have not reached a specific format yet.
Shojanouri said about what he predicts about this year’s Fajr festival with the presence of this policy council based on his previous experiences: The thing I can say with certainty right now is that right now, the people who sincerely love cinema And they want to do everything they can to improve this cinema, they have gathered together. This is the biggest incident that has happened now, and since I know this group well and know that they all have good intentions and have opinions, we can hope for a good and acceptable result. We have held a meeting in the council and these meetings should continue so that everyone defines what they have in mind so that we can find the direction based on the format that Mr. Shahesvari has in mind as the secretary of the festival. Finally, efforts should be made for officials, audience and artists to have a pleasant national film gathering again.
He added: We all sincerely want cinema people to gather together and consider cinema as their concern. By scattering cinematographers from each other, we cannot have a cinema at all. All cinematographers must be present because each one has its own color and flavor with each thought and approach. In this regard, filmmakers should be helped to make films without interference.
Can the national part of Fajr festival be international?
In response to the comments of the Minister of Guidance, how can the Fajr National Film Festival be held with an international narrative and proceed in such a way that the international festival will have a more specific destiny, he said: I believe that the Fajr International Film Festival will be held in those several periods that It was held, it was successful and its life should continue again in the best way. In my opinion, what Mr. Salehi proposed in the policy-making council meeting was aimed at inviting guests and foreign cinema workers who are interested in Iranian cultural cinema. The Fajr National Festival is an opportunity for them to participate in this annual party and celebration of Iranian cinema, although in the first years when the Fajr Festival was not international, those involved in international film festivals and markets, critics, cinematographers and international film personalities were invited, and when the Fajr Festival was established They watched Iranian movies and got to know the atmosphere of Iranian cinema closely.
In response to whether it is possible to reach a specific formula to maintain the world festival in a standard form so that it is not possible to change it with the transfer of governments and managers, this artist stated: We will definitely reach such a formula because these two parts of the festival have two functions and definitions. separate and each can continue its way with complete independence and brilliance without disturbing or interfering with other missions.
The integration of the national and global sectors was the dawn of political work
In the end, Alireza Shoja Nouri emphasized: In my opinion, what happened in re-merging the national and international Fajr festival was a political act and did not have much intellectual support. It seems that the authorities at the time thought that the mission of the National Fajr Festival, which is held in the decade of Fajr, had become so confused and lost its identity that they decided to put the international part aside to perhaps compensate for its weaknesses, if They investigated the matter fundamentally and realized that each of these two separate sections can serve Iranian cinema. With the emphasis that Fajr national festival is more popular and international festival is more specialized, but both can have a clear path towards excellence.