TEHRAN – The Iran International Documentary Film Festival “Cinema Verite” has announced the workshops and instructors for the 19th edition that will kick off on December 10 in Mellat Cineplex in Tehran.

In total, 10 workshops have been planned for the event, with Iranian and international instructors, ILNA reported.

On Thursday, the masterclass “Strategy in Recreating Truth” will be held by Goran Radovanović, a documentary filmmaker from Serbia.

Born in Belgrade, 68, he graduated in art history from Belgrade`s Faculty of Philosophy in 1982. Since 1994, he has focused on documentary films and cooperation with independent media. In 1996, he founded the independent production company Principal Film. He also lectures at the Tisch School of Arts.

Ahmad Alasti, a well-known Iranian film scholar, translator, and author, will conduct a workshop titled “Nonlinear Documentary in the 21st Century,” also on Thursday.

On Friday, December 12, the first session, “Hybrid Narrative Between Documentary and Fiction,” will be taught by Nishtha Jain, an Indian filmmaker and producer.

Nishtha Jain’s films interrogate lived experience at the intersection of gender, caste, and class. They explore the political in the personal and uncover the mechanisms of privilege. In addition to documentary film, she's been working across various platforms, including narrative and virtual reality.

The next workshop, “Artificial Intelligence: Service or Betrayal to Documentary?”, will be held by Amir Saharkhiz and Mohammad Va’ezi.

Also on Friday, “Escaping the Noise of Brands: Making an Informed Camera Choice” will be presented by Morteza Janbakhsh, a university lecturer in cinematography.

On Saturday, December 13, the program begins with a practical workshop titled “Using Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Technologies in Documentary Cinema,” conducted by Kuan Yuan Lai from Taiwan, focusing on practical tools and techniques.

Born in Taipei, Kuan Yuan Lai, 44, is a film director, CG artist, XR content creator, and also the founder of Poké Poké Creative Studio. He graduated from a film school, Shih-Hsin University in Taiwan, and an animation school, SUPINFOCOM in France. 

He is committed to independent production and multi-media visual arts work. Most of his works consider the relationship between environment, culture, life, and people from the perspective of the land. Sci-fi utopia theme, locality, and worldwide issues in folklore/event/environment, etc., have always been a rich resource for his artistic creation.

On Sunday, December 14, the workshop “Documentary Montage: From Archive to Creating Meaning” will be led by Sami Joubert van Ingen, a documentary filmmaker and the grandson of the late filmmaker Robert Flaherty.

Also on Sunday, Siavash Jamali, an Iranian international documentary producer, will lead the workshop “Co-Production.” This session is held in collaboration with the Iranian Documentary Producers Association.

The final workshop on Sunday, titled “Underwater Photography and Cinematography”, will be presented by Ramin Ardestani, an expert in the field, discussing the challenges of underwater imaging in the Persian Gulf.

Iran International Documentary Film Festival “Cinema Vérité” is organized by the Documentary & Experimental Film Center (DEFC). The festival tries to express the relationship between reality and truth through documentary films. 

The 19th edition of the festival will run until December 17.

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