TEHRAN – Iranian producer Elaheh Nobakht has been selected as the president of the short documentary and animation films jury of the Beirut International Women Film Festival (BWFF).

The jury also comprises actor Bruno Tabbal and his fellow Lebanese producer Nada Ghanem.

Nobakht, who is also the CEO of ELI Image, an international production and distribution film company, was also a jury member of various international film festivals such as the Religion Today Film Festival, the International Oriental Film Festival of Geneva in Switzerland, Beirut International Women’s Film Festival and Mena International Film Festival in the Netherlands.

The Iranian shorts “Split Ends” by Alireza Kazemipur, “Dolly” by Ali Delkari and “Graveyard” by Ali Darai are also competing in the Beirut festival, which is currently underway in the Lebanese capital.

In addition, “Dream’s Gate”, a documentary co-produced by Iran, Syria, Norway and France, is competing in the festival running until March 10.

The documentary follows young filmmaker Negin Ahmadi in Iran embarking on an adventure to meet the Kurdish women fighters in the war zone of North Syria. 

The Beirut film festival was founded in 2017 under the theme “Women for Leadership” highlighting the role of women as leaders in their societies.

The festival’s mission takes inspiration from the Beirut Film Society mission statement, which believes in providing equal opportunities for Lebanese and foreign women filmmakers. 

Hence, it was born “to educate future generations of filmmakers on such issues, shed light on successful stories of women in cinema, empower them, bring back a specific balance in the way they are portrayed, and remove the stereotypes that were forced upon them.”

Photo: A poster for the short documentary and animation films jury of the Beirut International Women Film Festival.

MMS/YAW