This mysterious bird and how did it find its way to become the symbol of farans most prestigious cinematic event . The seamor is a mystical flying creature in iranian mythology. It is regarded as a symbol of benevolence, generosity and wisdom, and this is exactly what inspired veteran iranian of graphics designer ibrahim haari task with designing a logo for the. On the other hand, i realized that many of the top Film Festivals have chosen an animal as their symbol such as the golden bear of the Berlin InternationalFilm Festival or the golden lion of the venice Film Festival. So this is what inspired me to pick the persian mythical bird seamore. Then in order to come up with the design, did some extensive drawings and symbolizing prestige, the seamor designed by Ibrahim Hariri is one of the most recognized logos in iran and adorns every poster and any item related to the faj Film Festival and the crystal seamore itself is the most fought after prize in irans Film Industry with International Independent filmmakers also vying for the statuette of the mystical persian bird as a great honor. For the first time in a couple of years, international fadge Film Festival started with lavish Opening Ceremony. The ceremony was held on january the 31st with all the glits and glamour. Of the 42nd fadge International Film festival. Kicked off in the iranian capital tehran with address by the minister of culture who pointed out that the victory of the Islamic Revolution is considered a turning point in the history of iranian cinema. He also added that the festival has created a platform for new generation of filmmakers and actors. Traditionally, the Opening Ceremony has always been an opportunity to honor the veteran filmmakers of iranian. Received Lifetime Achievement awards, the best poster and the best trailer of last years movies also received the top award of the festival, the crystal seamore. Unlike many other International Film festivals in the world, movies that inter the faj Film Festival, particularly in the National Section have not been a screened before. Most festivals movies. Are eligible to enter only after their first screenings. All that said, in iran, the fach Film Festival is actually a platform for movie premiers. That is basically why the festival is so important for filmmakers. The festival is like launchpad, because the public screenings for the movies or scheduled after the festival and how the movies are received by the critics and the Media Coverage of the festival can immensely affect the gross earnings. Now the next year after fash Film Festival begins, the best Promotional Materials including movie posters and trailers are chosen by the jury. The best short movie and the best documentary films also received the top prize, the crystal semorg, so it is customary to have an Award Ceremony during the opening of the festival where all of the movies that have been screened compete and the best Promotional Items receive prizes. Im honored to have received the crystal symbol for the best trailer this year. Of course, i should add that this is my third. See more from the faj Film Festival over the past five years. The fast Film Festival is a time for movie premieres and this is because according to regulations movies can enter the festival only if they havent been screened before, so this is both exciting and challenging for movie makers who are entering the competition. Mr. Najafi, please tell me more about the faj Film Festival, how many movies were received and how many were selected. The 42nd fage Film Festival. Year in a row that the interNational Section is being held alongside the National Section. You may remember that the interNational Section used to be held separately in april, but now it is the second year that the interNational Section is held in february. All together, we received 621 movies for 87 countries this year. The interNational Section includes three different competitions, including eastern vista for movies. From west asia and two other sections called cinema salvation and the festival of festivals, but there are two additional sections this year, one is dedicated to movies about palestine and the other is for movies that we received through the Shanghai Film association. In the National Section we received 106 movies out of which 33 movies were selected to compete in the National Section. As usual, the. Movies that have been selected will be screened over the course of 10 days from the 1st till the 11th of february. On the 11th of february we will hold the awards ceremony to announce the winners of this years festival. Please tell me how important is the faj Film Festival and how does it stand um an International Scale . Fage بعد the faj International Film festival is holding its 42nd edition and dating back nearly half a century. It is considered one of the oldest Film Festivals in the region and it is also known as one of the most important and best festivals in the west asia region. Both the international and National Sections of the festival are among the top Film Festivals of asia and occupy very special place in the Film Industry. The movie market on the sidelines of the festival also dates back 25 years and is considered one of the oldest film markets in the region. Every year. Many iranian and foreign filmmakers and distributors sign up to take part in the movie market. Not to mention that just like this year, hundreds of movies are sent to the secretariat of the french Film Festival. While many filmmakers and directors also sign up to take part and watch the movies. Weve had quite a number of wellknown movie directors participating in our festival over the past years. This includes mustafa al aagad, oliver stone, and others, i only named a few, but this shows how important the festival is and how it is perceived by high caliber filmmakers. A special section to palestine, considering the recent developments in the region and the atrocities committed against the pressed people in gaza, added this section to the festival. Weve scheduled to screen some really good movies that we made recently, and we have some extensive plans for this recently added section. Movies made by filmmakers from all over the world will be screened. We also have some special guests that are part. Ill tell you about the interNational Section because the National Sections will continue until february 11th. Of course you know that it started on february the 1st. The interNational Section will begin on the 6th of february. The film market will also open at the same time. All of these sections will be running until the 11th of february, that is, when the closing ceremony will be held in both national and interNational Sections and the winners will be announced and the winner will receive the top prize. Youve probably noticed that ive been saying fad International Film festival, in case youre wondering, yes, its because movies from all around the world can enter this festival, if you want to know how, keep watching. Please tell us more about the interNational Section, when will it began and how many movies did you receive and how many were selected . So. Um, the interNational Section of 42nd edition of international fad Film Festival will started from 6 to 11 of february, and we have three main sections, its the cinema salvation, its the International Competition part, the eastern wista is the focus on asian and islamic countries and also festival of festivals and two other sections, one is the belt and Road Initiative and the alliance of different Film Festivals along the silk road, there is a special section and special focus on palestine under the name of palestine, breath and so, and these are the five main sections that you have in our festival, as i mentioned, the festival will start from 6 to 11th with it. 600 around 642 movies from seven 78 countries and we did select from uh we will have 35 films along the selections of different section of our fistals. Could you be more specific about the different competitions in the interNational Section . To be more specific, maybe i explained it before, but we selected our movies, with a special regard on the new International Relation that we started, especially focus on asia countries, therefore we do have different um countries um with the eastern vista, uzbekistan, khazistan, kirkizistan, tajikistan, maybe um there are a little bit not so familiar for iran audience, but um they move forward and they made great films during the last year so we did select from this country so that we have a you know more diverse selection of the films from all around the world so um i think thats thats something specific for the faj Film Festival giving the opportunity for different filmmakers and neighbors and also um our regional partners to present their productions on this International Scene uh please tell us more about the participants tell me which countries are they from and are there any prominent names among them . So if i may start from the end of the question and answer that f International Film festival is among the. 12th most important Film Festival in the world, um, you know, for sure the association for aboard association of producers, the fiap, we are among the 12 most important and most influential Film Festival in the world, along with the berlin ala, can Film Festival, venice Film Festival, varsa Film Festival, shanghai Film Festival, and now the fagen International Film festival is prestigious and very important Film Festival in the region and nationally of course, so um, therefore you have um lot of guests from all around the world, from south america, from europe, from asia, also from the original neighbors and so uh, its a very encounter of diverse cultures, if i may say so, that the fage International Film festival filt host them and give them the opportunity to meet each other and and also get deeper in discussion, not only artistic discussion and also the artistic collaboration, also we, as you may know, we do have our 25th edition of the film market, international, the iranian International Film market, which gives also other opportunity for um producers, distributors and also Film Companies to um have their production on our uh fail market. Present their production and seeking also new collaboration and new potentials for further collaboration for in the field of Film Production so um thats what we are combining the economic part and the business part of the um of the Movie Productions and also the artistic part and this is a unique opportunity for all of the film activists to be a part of our film f how important is this festival on an International Scale, so um, as its the 42nd international uh Film Festival in the faj international, its its the 42 years ago they started with very initial idea to have national Film Festival at the beginning and later i think in the third or fourth edition it was the interNational Section beside the national one and uh think in 2000 18 or 2016 the uh International Part was separated and it was a own uh Film Festival uh and uh for five or six edition the both part the National Part and the International Part were separated and uh but last year we had the reunion of the Film Festival the National Part and the international awards. Uh were organized at the same time and uh there there were some obstacles uh to organize everything because uh you know to combine both first difficult and complicated but for our foreign guests its uh important to see also the iranian movies and so as we do have the brand new iranian movies on our Film Festival so its a direct connection that the representative of Film Festivals and distributors get the opportunity to watch the films directly and choose them for their Film Festival and from the events, so thats the opportunity that we can provide them um actually um for this uh recombination of the both section of the Film Festival. For all of you movie lovers out there, theres a special segment on our show where a movie critic talks about the different movies the faj Film Festival. Hello, mr. Purkaver, thank you for the interview, uh, well, we all know that this is the 42nd fad International Film festival, and its been a couple years since interNational Section has been added to the original uh festival itself. Um, please tell me what. 1983, this was considered an important step for iranian cinema. The festival was National Back then, a couple of years later, the interNational Section was added in 1986, to be precise. The interNational Section upscaled the faj Film Festival and paved the way for many great developments in iranian cinema. It upgraded both the festival in terms of the way it is held and also improved its international status. It also had a. Positive effect on the quality of movies made in iran. The interNational Section has also allowed us to educate a new generation of mature audience for our movies inside the country. The reason for all these positive effects was a presence of top filmmakers participating in this festival from around the world. It is customary for the festival to hold sideline workshops and masterclasses, and with the presence of these top filmers. Great opportunity was created for them to share their experiences with younger filmmakers and cinema enthusiasts. Similar masterclasses are only held in top Film Festivals around the world with alisters participating. A great example was the masterclass that mr. Oliver stone held in iran a couple of years ago on the sidelines the festival. Well, you know that hes one of the greatest filmmakers of our time, and in iran he is known for the movie i clearly remember in 2001, the late abbastani made a speech in honor of the wellknown greek filmmaker theo angelopulos. Two of his best movies were screen during the festival, the dust of time and weeping meadow. Another special guest that weve had in the international faj Film Festival is a wellknown filmmaker called belota, his movie the tireene. Horse was screened in the festival, many young aspiring iranian filmmakers had the opportunity to learn about him and his movie, making style and his modern techniques. To sum up, i have to say that the international faj Film Festival is a great opportunity for both iranian filmmakers and cinophiles to find out about modern filmmaking techniques and educate themselves about international cinema, and also watch some of the best movies in the world on the silver screen, this is basically what makes the interNational Section so important. That brings us to the end of this edition of seamo, thank you for watching and dont forget if. You miss any part of this show, you can always log to our website pressv. Ir. Thats it for today, goodbye. From the environment to business and economy, to civil and human rights, to treaties and agreements, to war and conflicts, we bring you the overlooked aspects of world events and news from the farflunged corners of the globe. 10 minutes only on press tv. This week on expos a, publishing unsubstantiated claims of hamas headquarters under alshifa in gaza hospital proved to be lies by zienist media. Claims of systematic rape on october 7 appeal to racist strope against the palestinian people, sweep major western mainstream media, and shockingly, over half of Young Americans surveyed on zionist israels war on gaza believe the zionist state should cease to exist, an african lawyer captures International Attention with her compelling representation of south africa at the International Court of justice, icj. On expose, the truth is just a revelation. Chambers around britain. Are staying silent first to be headlines, the usa is really genocidal war continues for the 121st day, therefore now tops 27,200, mostly women and children. Palestinian officials warn of a possible israel on the Southern City of ruffa, which hosts more than 1 million displaced palestinians. Also in the headlines, the us and uk carry out a fresh act of aggression against yemen, launching nearly 50 air strikes in six yemani provinces