TEHRAN – The Cinema Organization of Iran announced on Tuesday that the Fajr national and international film festivals will be combined again for 2022.

Accordingly, the festival will be organized jointly under the title of “Fajr International Film Festival”, the director of the organization, Mohammad Khazaei, said in a press release.

“Organizing these major festivals jointly and simultaneously on the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution will certainly provide additional practical opportunities for cineastes, people and foreign guests to make the best use of the event,” he said.

“Iran’s modern cinema, i.e. the post-revolution cinema, with all its ups and downs has always played a key role in conducting the country’s public diplomacy,” he noted.

“The presence of foreign guests and their direct witnessing of people’s regard for the Fajr festival and cinema would nullify propaganda promulgated by world arrogance against the country. This opportunity should be taken advantage of, and the glitches observed in previous editions of the festival must be fixed,” he added.
  
Khazaei, who has recently taken up the key position in the Cinema Organization of Iran, asked his colleagues to regard topics such as “family, morals and hope in the new era of the cinema.” 

Established in 1982, the festival was set to be held under the title of “Fajr International Film Festival” during the Ten-Day Dawn celebration, which is held every year from February 1 to 11 to commemorate the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

In 2014, the Cinema Organization of Iran, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and was also the main organizer of the Fajr International Film Festival, announced that the international section of the festival would be held separately from the national section for the first time in 2015. 

Thus, the international section was held from April 25 to May 2, 2015.

Photo: A poster for the Fajr International Festival.

MMS/YAW