TEHRAN – The 14th edition of the International Resistance Film Festival (IRFF) was inaugurated on Friday with a large number of participants at Tehran’s Art Bureau Hall.

The ceremony opened with speeches delivered by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) Director Abdol-Ali Ali-Asgari and Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani.

The festival running until September 30 is held annually during the Sacred Defense Week to commemorate the anniversary of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.

Twenty-eight documentary films, including films by the U.S. filmmakers Michael Moore and Oliver Stone, will be screened in the documentary section of the festival during the event, organizers have announced.

Among the highlights of the lineup are Moore’s “Where to Invade Next”, in which he spends time in some European and African countries where he compares their methods of dealing with social and economic problems with the methods in the U.S.
  
“Mi Amigo Hugo”, Stone’s documentary about Hugo Chavez, a Venezuelan politician who served as the 64th president of Venezuela from 1999 to 2013, has also been selected for the festival.

The festival also screens the U.S.-English joint production “I Am Ali” by Clare Lewins, which provides insight into the extraordinary life and legendary career of Muhammad Ali.

“Don’t Go to Iran!”, a short film by Benjamin Martini, “Hope in the Bottle” by Haicha Ladrouz, both from France, and “Empty Desert” by Linda Paganelli and Silvia Boarini from Italy are among the films.

Fourteen documentary and fiction films by Iranian directors on the war against Daesh in Iraq will also go on screen during the event.

Among the films are “The Judgment” directed by Mohammad Esfandiari, “1920” by Farshad Ektesabi, “Day 84” by Mehdi Avaz-zadeh and “Bridge” by Amir-Hossein Noruzi.

The renowned Iranian filmmakers Majid Majidi and Ahmadreza Darvish will judge the official competition, while Yvonne Ridley, the Muslim British journalist who was captured by the Taliban in 2001, will judge the short films and animations. 

Moreover, the festival will host U.S. filmmaker Abdallah Omeish in Tehran. Omiesh is scheduled to promote his documentary “The War around Us” at the event.

RM/YAW