TEHRAN-Iranian film director and producer Mohammad Mehdi Asgarpour is one of the jury members of the 11th Film Festival Kitzbuhel, which kicked off on August 21 in Kitzbuhel, Austria.

Asgarpour is serving as a juror at the main coemption section of the event along with eight other cineastes from Romania, Germany and Austria among others, ISNA reported on Wednesday.

Asgarpour, 60, has participated in various international festivals as a juror or as the vice president of FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Associations) in recent years.

Graduated from the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting University, he started his career in 1987 by making several short films. He made his debut feature film ‘Flying to the Limit’ in 1990, in which he was the director, producer and screenwriter.

Since then, he has directed four other feature films, for two of which he has written the script as well, produced two films. He has also made eight series.

His last film ‘We Have a Guest’ (2014) was screened at Busan Film Festival in South Korea, Indonesian Balinale Filmfest and 7th Jaipur International Film Festival in India.

During his 33 years of activity in cinema, Asgarpour has also served as the head of several organizations including House of Cinema, Farabi Cinema Foundation, Iranian Alliance of Motion Picture Guilds, and Iranian Artists Forum. He has also been the secretary of 20th and 21st Fajr Film Festival.

Founded in 2013, the FIAPF-accredited Film Festival Kitzbuhel is a young, creative and diverse festival with a focus on films by young directors.

The FFKB aims to support and promote national and international talents and to give them the opportunity to present their films to a large audience, but also to industry professionals and press representatives.

The Austrian event, which takes place in the last week of August each year, comprises competitive sections for national and international fiction and documentary feature films as well as short films and a group of out-of-competition sections.

This year’s edition of the festival will continue until August 27.

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