West Unable To Boycott Iranian Cultural Activities: Culture Minister

Tehran, Oct 8, IRNA – Western countries are not able to boycott Iranian cultural activities, Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Seyyed Mohammad Hoseini said here on Sunday. The minister made the remarks at the closing ceremony of the 29th edition of Tehran International Short Film Festival (TISFF). 'Participation of 107 short films from around the world in the 29th edition of Tehran International Short Film Festival in Iran is a sign of West's failure to restrict Iran's cultural activities.' Hoseini declared his support for young Iranian filmmakers and called Iranian Cinema with its popular, spiritual characteristics different from its rivals, including the Hollywood. 'Similar to progresses made in the industrial and technological areas, Iranian youth can advance the Iranian seventh art through hard work.”' Iran held the 29th edition of Tehran International Short Film Festival (TISFF) and screened productions from all over the world. This year’s event was held in the Iranian capital of Tehran and some other provinces. The films were required to have been completed after January 1, 2010 with maximum running time of 40 minutes in all genres. The 29th edition of the Tehran International Short Film Festival opened at the Mellat Cinema Complex on Monday. The ceremony was inaugurated with a message from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that was read by secretary of the festival Hashem Mirzakhani. The festival is a good opportunity for the youth to present their artistic creations, read part of the President’s message. 'Short film is the manifestation of innovation and new experiences. Our professional cinema of today owes its fame to those who began working with short films and later produced praiseworthy works,' it continued. Javad Shamaqdari, the director of Iran Cinema Organization (ICO) and Iran’s Documentary and Experimental Film Center (DEFC) Director Shafi Aqamohammadian were among the attendees at the opening ceremony. Mirzakhani said that the Iranian Young Cinema Society (IYCS) has promised to provide facilities to distribute short films on the Iranian home video network in collaboration with the Audio-Visual Media Institute. He also asked Shamaqdari to help screen short films in the Iranian movie theaters. The ceremony continued with paying tribute to film critic Tahmasb Solhju Screening top works from previous editions of the festival, Iranian and world animations, film review sessions and several workshops were among different sections of the festival. Organized by the Iranian Youth Cinema Society, the 29th Tehran International Short Film Festival was held from October 1 to 7, 2012. The Society produces around 1800 short films every year many of which have been screened in a number of international festivals. The Iranian movie “Five Short Stories” directed by Seifollah Samadian has won the Golden Guepard for the best short film at the Second Tashkent International Film Festival. Samadian was not able to attend a closing ceremony held at the Turkiston Palace in Tashkent on Friday and Iran’s cultural attaché Hamid Mostafavi received the award. “Five Short Stories” is a five-episode film about the precarious lives animals lead among human beings. Four episodes were shot in Iran and the fifth one was filmed in Georgia in 2012. “Joanna” directed by Felix Falk from Poland won the best feature-length film award and “Dove sei, amor mio” by Veljko Popovic from Croatia was named the best animated film at the festival. The Iranian feature film “Daughter… Father… Daughter” by Panahbarkhoda Rezaii and the Iranian animation “The honorable and fertile life of the Red Pencil” by Alireza Chitaii also were screened at the festival. The Iranian short film “Raw, Cooked, Burned” by Shahram Mokri won the Golden Guepard at the previous edition of the festival in 2011. Guepard refers to the world’s fastest running animal which has historical roots in Uzbek culture. The guepard used to be part of the coat of arms of the House of Rulers of Chach, an ancient name for Tashkent. The festival was held from September 30 to October 5 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan./end