TEHRAN -- A collection of animated films is representing Iranian animation cinema at the 9th Future Film Festival, which opened yesterday in Bologna, Italy.

The festival is screening films produced by the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA) in English and Italian.

“For the first time in Italy, Future Film Festival pays tribute to Iranian animation, a prolific cinematography that has a great ability and a great variety of techniques ranging from the animation made with puppets (the most traditional technique in Iran) to the 3-D animation with computer graphics, preferred by modern artists, and the 2-D (by digital images and by drawings),” reads a part of an article posted on the festival’s website.

The films “A Raven Who Wanted to Be the Most Powerful” directed by Mohammad-Ali Soleimanzadeh, “The Farmer and the Cow” by Fatemeh Gudarzi, “Bahador” by Abdollah Alimorad, “The Flower, the Bird, and the Sun” by Bahram Javaheri, “There Was the Moon and a Fox” by Babak Nazari, and “Malek Khurshid” and “Flower Storm” by Ali-Akbar Sadeqi were shown on the opening day.

The second day features “Jewell Mountain” and “The Parrot and the Grocer” by Alimorad, “The Axe” by Ahmad Arabani, “The Rook” by Sadeqi, and “The Path of Love” by Morteza Ahadi.

“The Seven Cities” and “Zal and Simorgh” by Sadeqi, “The Sweat Story” by Mohammadreza Abedi, “Shangul and Mangul” co-directed by Ahadi and Farkhondeh Torabi, “The White Winged” by Alimorad, and “Bird of Silence” by Lisa Jamileh are to be screened on the third day.

The films “The Flow” directed by Alireza Chitaii, “Lili Lili Little Pool” by Vajihollah Fard-Moqaddam, “The General and the Kite” by Soleimanzadeh, “What Is It Like” by Ali Khodaii, “The Mouse and the Apple Tree” by Nahid Samadi-Amin, and “The Thirsty Crow” by Torabi are to be shown at the closing gala on January 21.

In addition, 11 films produced by Iran’s Experimental and Documentary Film Center (EDFC) will be screened in the event, including “The Hole” directed by Vahid Nasirian, “Cup Fortunetelling” by Sara Saeidian, “Another Beginning” by Maryam Abuzari, “Whisper of Existence” by Hassan Zaryabi, “Smoked Fish” by Fima Emami, “Birthday” by Hoda Mokarrami, and “It Happened in Three Seconds” by Hossein Ziaii.

The festival also features 13 movies produced by the Iranian filmmaking institute Saba. The works include “Hafez” co-directed by Nasirian and Sa’dat Rahimzadeh, “No War!” and “Water” by Ravanbakhsh Sadeqi, “From Apple to Apple” by Babak Nekuii, and “Crows” by Zohal Razavi.

And lastly, Saeid Tavakkolian, the former president of the Association Internationale du Film d'Animation (ASIFA, International Animated Film Association) is scheduled to deliver a speech on Iranian animated films and their significance during the closing ceremony.