TEHRAN -- The founder and president of the Universal Film Festival, Ben Bahmani, will hold a workshop in Tehran on December 6 to discuss the differences between American and European festivals. 

Bahmani, who arrived in Tehran on November 28 at the invitation of Filmnegaran, a film production company in Iran, will transfer his knowledge to Iranian young filmmakers, director of Filmnegaran Abbas Rafei told the Persian service of MNA on Saturday.

“Bahmani will give details about the formation of filmmaking in America and the process of distributing and screening films to American theaters and TV channels,”Rafei, who is also a filmmaker, added.

“He will also discuss the differences, that is, European festivals are after films with negative attitudes while American films look for classic films.”

He continued, “We are actually trying to provide a good opportunity for young filmmakers to meet directors of international festivals. I believe the world festivals have changed their attitude towards Iranian films.

“Our filmmakers must first learn to make films with good techniques. Some think they can make a film with a cell phone and submit to the international festivals,” Rafei who is the director of award-winning “Oblivion Season” remarked.

The workshop is free for filmmakers, short and feature, and they can also take their films to the workshop for further reviews, he said adding that the workshop will be followed by a question and answer panel.

Universal is an annual entertainment event that celebrates the art of independent film attracting filmmakers and filmgoers from all walks of life to Kansas City.

RM/YAW