Highlights of the 7th National APFF Press Conference

TEHRAN (AIPFF) - The press conference of the 7th national section of Ammar Popular Film Festival was held on December 18, at Hoseynieh Honar, Tehran.

TEHRAN (AIPFF) – The press conference of the 7th national section of Ammar Popular Film Festival was held on December 18, at Hoseynieh Honar, Tehran. Nader Talebzadeh, the secretary of the Festival, Vahid Jalili, the head of the festival’s policymaking council, and Sayed Rasul Monfared, the executive secretary of the festival, were all present at the press conference.

Recent activities of the festival including the international section and also organizing screening of the movies by the Iranian people across the country and abroad were discussed in this press conference and the participants heard of the latest news on the 7^th edition of the festival that is to be held in Tehran, from December 28 to January 6.

Screening of ‘Hengameh’, from poor Iranian regions, to Bahrain, Italy, US

At the beginning of the conference, Sayed Rasul Monfared outlined the activities carried out by those responsible for the festival so far. “During the past year, we had the popular screening of the movie ‘Hengameh’. The movie was screened in mosques, universities, houses, etc., and those who watched it paid for it to the extent they found the film satisfactory and interesting. The price of the tickets was not fixed and people were free to pay as much money as they wanted,” he said, adding “this way Hengameh attracted 100,000 audiences throughout the country, earning 70 million tomans in its 700 screenings.”

“The optional price of the tickets brought about very nice events. We had people in Bahrain, Italy and the US who paid a noticeable amount of money for the ticket. In a very deprived area in Iran the movie sold really well. For example, in Bandar Abbas, a housewife paid 1 million tomans for the ticket,” Monfared pointed out. He said those who screened the festival’s movies were to be appreciated along with the top filmmakers, as they have a great role in promoting the revolutionary cinema.

Sayed Rasul Monfared, the executive secretary of Ammar Popular Film Festival – Photo: APFF

Popular screenings before start of judgments

The executive secretary pointed to some statistics and information about this year’s festival. “The call for the 7^th Ammar Popular Film Festival was announced in September and the accordingly the deadline for the participants to send their works for this round of the festival to the secretariat was November 25,” explained Monfared, adding, “around 2,960 works including movies, documentaries, video clips, animations, and TV shows were sent to the festival’s secretariat, that has increased 500 in number compared to the previous round of the festival. The majority of the works were submitted under categories of Islamic Awakening, Contemporary History, and Soft War. We have received good works on Resistive Economy as well, that focus on the role of the people in this regard. We also have the “Popular Hero” section. In this category we have an outstanding movie named “Roozegare Akbar” or “Ahmad’s Life”, that is about a blind man, or another movie name “Sayed Ahmad”, that is about a man with spinal cord injury who is an entrepreneur.”

The Executive Secretary of the festival stated that “this year the popular screening of the movies started before the judgments so that people are given a more significant role in choosing the top works of the festival.”

Miguel Littín pointed to the boycott of Talebi and Hatamikia by the global cinema

Vahid Jalili explained about the works sent to the 7^th Ammar Popular Film Festival. “This year’s festival is the best so far, particularly in some categories in which we are witnessing a new start. The festival is an attempt to reconstruct the cinema of the Islamic Revolution. We hope that the thousands of people who are trying to deliver the works of the Islamic Revolution’s cinema to its real audience  succeed in doing that and lead us toward normal conditions in  Iran’s cinema. This can help us more than any satellite or mainstream media propaganda to present a real picture of the capabilities of Iran’s cinema to those inside and outside the country.”

“We have to reconsider the potentials and capacities of the international section of the conference. We have had great people participating in the festival from other countries, including Miguel Littín about whom Gabriel Garcia Marquez has written a book,” Jalili mentioned. “Miguel Littín has watched the movies ‘Che’ and ‘Orphanage of Iran’. He said he liked KiaRostami’s works but wondered why KiaRostami is known to the global cinema but AbolQasem Talebi and Ebrahim Hatamikia have remained unknown and why they are boycotted by to the cinema of the world.

Vahid Jalili, the head of the festival’s policymaking council – Photo: APFF

Talebzadeh says Elated by Quality of APFF Works

“I’m glad and honored to be present at the 7^th Ammar Popular Film Festival,” said the secretary of the festival at the end of the press conference. Talebzadeh praised the works sent to be screened at the festival and insisted on further technical training of the filmmakers in story films and documentaries. He said he was very hopeful of the 7^th festival and wished it to be presented to the world more clearly. “The time is shifting and the attempts of those who stand against the Islamic Revolution have backfired. Salafism, the ISIS, and the Muslim hypocrites were all created by the CIA and this has put obstacles on our way and at the same time eased our way.”

“It eased our way as people now can clearly distinguish between the real Islam that was promoted by Imam Khomeini and the fake Islam that is a threat to all,” stated Talebzadeh, and added “today the conditions before Iran have changed and thus we need revolutionary media.  Ammar Festival tries to train people who are able to introduce the Islamic Revolution both to those inside the country and to the world.”

Nader Talebzadeh, the secretary of Ammar Popular Film Festival – Photo: SNN.ir

‘Orphanage of Iran’ has to be screened in London

‘Orphanage of Iran’ has to be screened in London, insisted the director of the festival, pointing to Iran’s lawsuits in international courts, including the cases of Iranian chemical victims. “I like ‘Orphanage of Iran’ as it shows the violated rights of Iran during the First World War, and I wonder how impassive we can be toward our valuable rights. The movie has to be screened in England itself and in the cultural centers of London, and the case needs to be legally pursued.”