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Iran’s Fajr film festival grabs headlines with Oliver Stone

The Fajr International Film Festival's ambitious director is determined to get the festival top rankings by focusing on regional issues and high-profile guests.
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Iran’s Fajr International Film Festival has been an important platform for Iranian, regional and international films for more than three decades. But this year’s edition, which took place April 19-27, proved to be more mediatic and controversial than the previous years. This was partly due to the high-profile participants — in particular Oliver Stone, the American writer and filmmaker whose remarks from Tehran spurred a debate on the liberty of artists in Iran.

Raising the profile of the festival, which was launched in 1982, is one of the main goals of Reza Mirkarimi, an award-winning Iranian director who took the helm three years ago. Speaking at a press conference April 12, Mirkarimi said that he wanted to boost Fajr’s international profile and recognition, explaining that he invited the Paris-based International Federation of Film Producers Associations to the festival last year. The move was aimed at getting the federation to accredit the Fajr International Film Festival as a “category A” festival, meaning a “specialized festival” in the same rank as the film festivals in Berlin and Venice.

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