According to the report of Khabaronline news agency from the public relations of the Center for the Development of Documentary, Experimental and Animated Cinema, the opening ceremony of the Cinema Verity Festival was held this afternoon, Sunday, December 18, 1403, in Hall No. 1 of Charso Cinema Campus.
At the beginning of the ceremony, which was performed by Hamed Shakibania, after playing the national anthem and reciting several verses from the Holy Quran, Mohammad Hamidi Moghadam, the festival secretary and the CEO of the Center for Documentary, Experimental and Animated Cinema, came on stage and welcomed the attendees. : I am happy that after months of continuous efforts, we are going to welcome a festival where a world of Boldness, beauty and surprise will open before your eyes.
Opening of the festival with a film about innocent lives lost in Gaza
At the beginning, I pay my respects to all the women, men and children of Gaza, to the oppressed and resistant people who have been the target of the harshest inhumane attacks by the occupation regime of Jerusalem for more than a year.
In this ritual, which was established in respect of the truth and in praise of the reflection of reality, I pay tribute to the innocent lives lost in Gaza and the innocent children whose image will never be forgotten. We will kick off the 18th festival with a film about these people and see ourselves next to them. As a regular observer and recorder, the Cinema Truth Festival has a complicated situation these days, the world is involved in chaos and disorder, and the role of the documentary maker is perhaps more important in this situation than in any other era.
Dear artists, esteemed audience, “Cinema-Ghekurit” festival has been showing social, demanding, critical and bold works in recent periods. We were not looking for a neutral documentary cinema, so we tried to appreciate the young filmmakers who made films based on the experience and efforts of the successful documentary filmmakers of previous generations. The result is the birth of a new generation, a new generation, which tries to be the narrator of its time. We pay our respects to the elders and professors and we are happy that they have always supported “Cinema-Ghekrit” and accompanied us, the prestigious names whose presence is the credit of Iranian cinema.
This year, what you see in the national section is far from conservative. Today’s generation is transparent and clear, so documentary cinema must be clear and transparent, we trusted the filmmakers to be fair in their criticism, and so it happened, a large number of social films about crises, environmental problems, generation gap, separation, addiction and You will see issues like this in the festival, which honestly try to shine a light on our world, and isn’t it the artist’s job to ignite light in the heart of darkness? The 18th banquet We begin “Cinema-Ghekrit” by thanking the artists and documentary makers who kept the light of this cinema on, without their presence and ideas, Iranian documentary cinema would not shine. A cinema that has the problem of lack of budget, distribution and screening, and many efforts to change this situation, has not yet been able to create an ideal atmosphere for it. One of the goals of “Cinema-Ghekrit” is to draw the attention of managers and policy makers to the importance of documentary cinema and its issues.
Today, we are hosting the greats of documentary cinema, I hope we will always have this company at the “Cinemavegetir” festival. We are happy that the presence of these professors has given warmth and passion to our community. Dear artists, I hope you will watch a treasure trove of the best Iranian and foreign documentaries in the coming days and enjoy discovering these works and the meanings and concepts that flow in them. Thank you for your cooperation.
Documentaries make people think about the world
In the continuation of this program, a video message from Bill Nichols, an American filmmaker, was broadcast. This American filmmaker talked about the importance of documentary and the impact it has on the audience’s understanding of the world and said: Documentaries keep our sense of the world alive. They give us a deeper understanding of the universe and give a new shape and texture to the surrounding world. These days, our cinema facilities are accompanied by artificial intelligence. This story can bring challenges and deception. We must be aware of this. Our world is full of topics that need to be addressed and many people that need to be seen or heard. Documentaries talk to people and make us think about the world around us.
Witness the truth
In the continuation of the program, the message of Eric Spitzer, the Austrian sound engineer, was broadcast to the 18th festival. This international cinematographer said in part of his message to the Cinemahegurit Festival: My message to all documentary cinema enthusiasts is that no matter how hard the road gets, continue on your path and don’t be disappointed. By doing this, you will take a big step for the future generation. The documentary should be a platform available to all people; Provided that you witness the truth. I hope you have a good time at the festival.
American filmmaker Ovidio Salazar also said in a very short message to this year’s festival: Good luck; Friends instead of us.
In his video message, the Iraqi filmmaker Samir Jalaluddin thanked the organizers of Cinema Heqarit and explained about the documentary film he made on the topic of racism.
Holding the commemoration of Hossein Torabi
Then Mohammad Hamidi Moghadam and Mustafa Razzaq Karimi came on stage to honor Hossein Torabi, a veteran filmmaker. Hamidi Moghadam said: It is a great blessing to start the festival by honoring dear and veteran artists. I remember that in 2018, we started the work of honoring with Professor Manouchehr Anwar and Mohammad Reza Aslani at the opening ceremony. Everyone is aware of Hossein Torabi’s brilliant career and blessed us with being here today. As a disciple, we ask him to start the 18th festival for us.
Hossein Torabi said: I have just come from the hospital and I would like to congratulate you on holding the 18th Cinema-Ghekrit Festival. Cinema was born in the scientific laboratory, but if one person did not die of hunger in the railway cabin, there would be no fictional cinema today. I like to read Ghazal 483 by Hafez:
I don’t see happiness in anyone, neither emotional healing nor religious pain
The insides became dark, as if from the unseen. A light breaks the silence
Then the video message of Karol Mansour, the director of the film “Love State” and Mona Khalidi, its producer, was broadcast, in which they said: This film is about the situation in Gaza from the perspective of Dr. Abusteh. He is an ordinary man with an ordinary family, but he feels the mission of expressing this issue on his shoulders. We are happy to have a close friendship with him and to have a deep conversation with him. At the end of this film, the documentary was played.
In this ceremony, figures such as Habib Ilbeigi, Morteza Razzaq Karimi, Masoud Najafi, Abdul Hossein Badrlou, Mohammad Tayyeb and… were present.
The 18th International Iranian Documentary Film Festival “Cinema-Ghekrit” will be held from December 18 to 25 at the Charso Film Campus under the direction of Mohammad Hamidi Moghadam.
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