“I knew this festival very well from years ago. Many Iranian films have participated in our festival and various filmmakers have come to attend it. Last year we had a special section of Iranian cinema at the festival, which, despite its small size, was welcomed but we have shown Kiarostami's works over and over again. Of course, we have also shown the work of documentaries such as Mehrdad Oskouie and had his presence too. I always wanted to come here and hopefully I’m invited this year! In my opinion, this festival is very organized and more importantly welcomed. For me, the value of a festival is when it comes to the audience, how many people come to watch films. This is a sign of the success of a festival.. Another important factor that I saw at this festival was the very strong presence of various media. I've been to a lot of festivals in my life, small, big, different countries and continents but maybe in Cannes and Berlin is like Cinema-Verite that all the different media are interested in covering a cinematic event. I am totally impressed by the audience, the filmmakers and the films here.” He said.
“Your country's culture is very rich and cinema is an important part of your culture. Iranian films show this, too, from the streets to the countryside. On the other hand, the number of films produced in Iranian cinema is very high. Many countries do not produce one-fifth of Iranian cinema. This is when Iran has a challenging international situation. Then you see three Iranian films at the same time winning awards at IDFA, which is amazing and a good sign. Other countries feel deeply jealous of Iranian cinema.” He continued.
Nasim Ghazizadeh