The 34th Fajr Film Festival will be held in February in Tehran, Iran’s capital. The event is the oldest of its kind in the region, after the Cairo International Film Festival, which was established in 1976. However, if one takes into account the six rounds that were held prior to Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, with the first held in 1972, it is undoubtedly the oldest in the Middle East.

Before the Islamic Revolution, the Tehran Film Festival was considered a fierce rival of the Cannes Film Festival; it was rumored to have an even higher budget than Cannes. However, after the Islamic Revolution, which was followed by a year of cultural confusion, the Tehran Film Festival came to be viewed as a symbol of Western triviality by the revolutionaries, as were many other artistic events of the shah’s era — and so it was canceled. However, in 1982, the Tehran Film Festival was revived, but under the title of the Fajr (“Dawn,” in reference to the Islamic Revolution) International Film Festival, and held on the anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution. This did not, however, allow the Fajr International Film Festival to gain much international credibility, in contrast to the newer cinematic events that were being held in Arab countries in the Persian Gulf region, such as the Dubai International Film Festival or the now closed Abu Dhabi Film Festival, or going farther away, the Istanbul or Cairo festivals, which have gained international recognition. Moreover, by maintaining a conservative nature while insisting on Islamic moral principles, the Fajr International Film Festival has failed to make news far from home.

In a sign of the disarray, this year’s festival has yet to begin, but already one of the judges has resigned. Once again, it appears that the issue at hand is the blade of censorship that is held over Iranian cinema. This fact of daily life in Iran has led many filmmakers away from Tehran and toward other film festivals in the Middle East.

For instance, in 2011, prominent Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani’s film was removed from the Fajr Film Festival and not given permission for screening after Farahani posed semi-nude for a French magazine. In contrast, she won the best actress award at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival.