TEHRAN-The 14th edition of Ammar Popular Film Festival has received over 3,300 works including documentaries, fiction, animations, and scripts among others, the executive secretary of the festival said at a press conference on Monday.

“Documentaries and scripts form the highest number of submissions,” Hamid Salehi said adding that the festival will be held from January 11 to 19 at Felestiin Cinema in Tehran, IRNA reported him as saying.

“This year, the winner of the award in the resistance field will receive a symbolic Yemeni dagger,” he noted.

Introducing the other parts of this year’s edition of the festival, Salehi said: “We will also have expert meetings, educational workshops, and a special program for Gaza and the Al-Aqsa Storm Operation among other programs”.

In addition, “The book ‘Cinema People,’ will be unveiled at the festival, which contains a complete introduction of different periods of Ammar Festival,” he added.

According to Salehi, a number some artists and cultural figures will be honored at the festival as well, including cartoonist Maziyar Bijani, film director Mohammad-Hossein Latifi, the late actress Parvaneh Masoumi, and the war veteran Seyyed Mohammad Jozi.

Bijani, 50, is known for his bitter criticism of reformers and pro-Western capitalists. Before becoming a cartoonist, he studied politics. Bijani's work has been featured on various websites promoting Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation. 

Latifi, 60, will be honored for his works regarding the Sacred Defense and Palestine such as “Vafa” (2006), “The Third Day” (2007), and “Unknown” (2023).

Massoumi, who passed away last November, at the age of 78, performed in over 30 feature films and more than 20 TV series during 40 years of professional experience. Her notable religious works include the TV series “Traveller of Rey” and “Martyr of Kufa” both by Davood Mir-Bagheri and “Prophet Joseph” by Farajollah Salahshour.

Jozi, 58, has collected the memories of the parents of Iranian martyrs of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war in the past 25 years.

Salehi also expressed that the festival will present several new awards in various sections, whose details will be announced in the coming days.

Ammar Popular Film Festival was established in 2010 by a number of Iranian revolutionary figures to honor film and art products promoting topics such as resistance and revolution. It was named after Ammar Yasir, a close companion of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

The festival serves as a platform and voice for artists involved in the resistance movement, offering support to the global artistic community that is often overlooked by the world. 

The 14th edition of the festival will be held in five sections: Main Competition, People’s Awards, Our Film, People’s Screening, and Our Story. In the Main Competition section, the received works compete in the formats of fiction films, documentaries, animations, music videos, television productions, screenplays, screenplays, and the new format of virtual space productions. 

The topics of this year’s edition of the festival include the new world order, the ideal of Ruhollah, the Iranian dream, criticism within the discourse, national memory, the global movement of the oppressed, economic war, heroic nation, and soft war.

SS/