TEHRAN – Iranian cinematographer Touraj Aslani will serve as a jury member at the 3rd Amed Film Festival, which will take place from December 7 to 14 in Diyarbakır, Turkey, after an eight-year hiatus.

Aslani will be one of the five jurors in the Kurdish Feature Films section of the festival, which will bring together Kurdish and international cinema, with 84 films, workshops, a project fund, and an exhibition on film director and screenwriter Yılmaz Güney's “Yol.”

A celebrated and award-winning cinematographer, Aslani will also hold a masterclass titled “Between Seeing and Recognizing” during the festival.

Born in Kermanshah Province, Touraj Aslani, 51, studied film directing at Soore University in Tehran. He started his professional career at the age of 25 and became the youngest professional photographer in the Iranian film Industry. 

As an experienced cinematographer, He has filmed over 100 movies in various countries and has received prestigious awards from around the world. He is also active as a director, investor, executive manager, and producer of documentary and fiction films. 

He has served as a judge at reputable film and photography festivals and has organized numerous workshops in the field of photography and cinematography. He is the founder of Maad Movie Company and Maad Film School, which is the first school in Iran to offer comprehensive specialized courses in cinematography.

Transitioning into directing, his feature films “Jingo” (2014), “Gold Carrier” (2018), and “Landless” (2020) have screened at international festivals.

The Amed Film Festival was launched in 2012 on the initiative of the Amed Municipality and the Middle East Film Academy. From the outset, the aim was to provide a platform primarily for independent filmmakers, especially those from the Kurdish region, who operate beyond industrial and political constraints, who work with a feminist, ecological, and democratic approach, and who see cinema as a place of resistance and self-empowerment.

With this focus, the festival quickly became a magnet for filmmakers from Kurdistan, West Asia, and beyond. The first two editions also brought together artists who question boundaries not only aesthetically but also socially.

The national section, entitled “The Journey of Kurdish Cinema,” will feature 16 feature films, seven documentaries, and 13 short films, many of which have won awards or have already been screened at other festivals.

The international selection includes ten feature films, eleven documentaries, and 14 short films from Turkey and abroad. The screenings will be accompanied by discussions with film crews and masterclasses, including with director Kazım Öz (“Directing in Film”).

Once again, the central element of the festival is the Sînebîr Project Fund, which will award prizes to 15 film projects (five feature films, five documentaries, and five short film scripts). The aim is to increase the visibility of Kurdish material and to support young filmmakers. The winning projects will be announced at the end of the festival.

Three thematic workshops enrich the program: Arîn Înan Arslan provides information about Kurdish cinema as the “camera-less center of a fragmented geography,” Hülya Uğur Tanrıöver talks about women and narrative forms in film, and Ayşe Çetinbaş discusses the production of independent documentaries.

SS/SAB