Culture Min: Artists Block Path For Youth’s Inclination Toward West

Isfahan, Oct 9, IRNA – Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini said here Monday artists must with appropriate and high context production block the path for Iranian youth’s tastes inclining towards western cultural goods. Hosseini made the comment in the opening ceremony of the 26th Isfahan International Children and Young Adults Film Festival. “We must properly present the rich culture of our country to our children and young adults, and by producing good films, theatrical works, and music, block the path of their getting inclined towards alien cultures,” Hosseini reiterated. Pointing out that the real heroes and epical champions of the Iranian history are the martyred combatant commanders who safeguarded Iran against the invading enemy, he added, “The offspring of this land, Iran, must thoroughly comprehend the gallantry of those heroes.” The minister of culture and Islamic guidance reiterated, “Resorting to the language of the arts, we need to introduce our champions to our children so that they would no pursue for phoney champions.” Hosseini said the children and young adults are the sunshine that warm up the festival, expressing hope that the 26th Festival would be sponsored better than the previous 25 festivals. He meanwhile informed that this year, in addition to Isfahani children and young adults, Iran's youth would be benefited from the fimls of this festival as cultural caravans dispatched to various Iranian provinces would screen the films throughout Iran Four members of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) are to serve on the jury panel of Iran’s 26th International Festival of Films for Children and Young Adults. Bahareh Yeganeh, Maneli Aqakhan, Jaafar Goudarzi and Moqareh Abed are UNICEF members who will participate in the festival to judge the works. Some various cinema experts and well-known artists are also scheduled to join the UNICEF members on jury panel at the 26th edition of the International Festival of Films for Children and Young Adults Vahid Nikkhah-Azad, Rahbar Qanbari, Nasser Refaie and Sirous Hassanpour are the children filmmakers who have been selected to take part at this year’s competition section of the festival. The festival aims to connect children and adults, and promote world peace, the secretary of the festival, Ja'far Goudarzi said, adding that children’s film festivals can be one of the many ways to create a safe world where kids are not used for crime or sacrificed for greed. Works from 34 countries including 11 countries in Asia, 18 from Europe and three from the American continent will be presented at this year’s festival./end