TEHRAN – Three Iranian cultural centers have teamed up to organize an international film festival to promote environmental issues and sustainable development.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Earth Film Festival, established by the Green Civilization NGO, Ordibeheshte Oudlajan Art and Cultural Complex and Hashur, a platform providing video on demand (VOD) service, will be organized online from May 15 to 21.

A selection of 55 feature, short, animation and documentary films will be screened during the event, the director of the festival Farhad Tohidi said in a press release on Saturday.

Due to the pandemic, the organizers plan to hold the first edition of the festival nationwide, therefore, they have selected the entries from the films submitted by Iranian filmmakers.

“A sustainable development is a development that meets the needs of today with no harm for the needs of the future generations,” Tohidi said in the press release.

“Socio-cultural development, economic development and the protection of the environment are the main pillars of sustainable development, which are the topics regarded in cinema,” he added.   

He noted that sustainable development acknowledges a responsibility to improve working conditions and living standards with respect to the preservation of natural assets such as water, air, earth and mineral resources, which have always been regarded by filmmakers in their films.   

“In this world interwoven with various problems, topics though local and regional, are in direct connection with global issues; climate change affects the fate of the entire world; poverty, wars, insecurity, unbalanced development and waves of immigration cause problems for all countries,” he stated.

Tohidi said that the organizers aim to attract the attention of experts and cultural elites to the topics threatening the environment, as well as to raise public awareness of environmental issues by organizing the International Earth Film Festival.

Several other institutes, including the Iranian House of Cinema, are also contributing to the festival. 

Photo: A poster for the 1st edition of the International Earth Film Festival.

MMS/YAW