28th Fajr International Film Fest kicks off

28th Fajr International Film Festival (FIFF) was inaugurated on Saturday evening at the gathering hall of Milad tower in Tehran, IRI capital, with 27 films competing for Crystal Phoenix award.

There were some tributes for several artists in the opening ceremony and some others will be honored in the course of the festival.

Ali Kasmaee, one of the oldest dubbing directors in Iranian cinema was among those honored in the opening ceremony.

Secretary of the event Mehdi Massoudshahi told IRIB that 27 Iranian films out of more than 80 submitted will compete for Crystal Phoenix award in the Iranian Cinema section of the 28th International Fajr Film Festival.

He also noted that 19 short films, 37 documentaries and 22 films in the video section have also been selected for screening in the festival.

More than 100 directors and producers from other countries have taken part in the international Festival.

To respect the Arbaeen mourning ceremonies in commemoration of the 40th day after the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (A.S.), this year’s inauguration and closing ceremonies are held sooner than past, he said.

28th Fajr International Film Festival will be on stage until February 4, 2010.

The festival is held annually in commemoration of the landmark 1979 Islamic Revolution. Fajr (opening), the title of the Festival, connotes the triumph of the revolution and is derived from a Koranic sura, the same title.

The revolutionary developments run more speedily following the arrival of Imam Khomeini from exile in February 1, 1979 so that ten days later, the revolution got triumph. Iranians annually mark the ten days, called in the revolutionary calendar as Ten Days of Fajr.

The list of films competing for Crystal Phoenix is as follows, according to the official website of the 28th festival.

1. “Aal” directed by Bahram Bahramian
2. “Anahita” directed by Azizollah Hamidnejad
3. “Be Range Arghavan” (In Purple Color) directed by Ebrahim Hatamikia
4. “Bidari Ro’yaha” (Wakefulness of Dreams) directed by Mohamadali Bashe Ahangar
5. “Parseh Dar Meh” (Wandering in the Mist) directed by Bahram Tavakoli
6. “Parvaze Morghabiha” (Ducks’ Flight) directed by Ali Shah-Hatami
7. “Pesare Adam, Dokhtare Havva” (Adam’s Son, Eve’s Daughter) directed by Rambode Javan
8. “Taraneye Koochake Man” (My Little Taraneh) directed by Mas’ud Keramati
9. “Tasvieh Hesab” (Settling Accounts) directed by Tahmineh Milani
10. “40 Salegi” (40 Years Old) directed by Alireza Raeesian
11. “Khabhaye Donbaleh-dar” directed by Pooran Derakhshandeh
12. “Sange Aval” (The First Stone) directed by Ebrahim Foroozesh
13. “Shabe Vaghe’e” (directed by Shahram Asadi
14. “Shekarchie Shanbeh” (Saturday’s Hunter) directed by Parviz Sheikh-Tadi
15. “Shokolate Dagh” (Hot Chocolate) directed by Hamed Kolahdari
16. “Sobhe Rooze Haftom” (7th Day Morning) directed by Mas’ud Atyabi
17. “Tabagheye Sevom” (The Third Floor) directed by Bijan Mirbagheri
18. “Tala va Mes” (Gold and Copper) directed by Homayun As’adian
19. “Tehran Tehran” directed by Daryoosh Mehrjuee and Mehdi Karampoor
20. “Asre Rooze Dahom” (10th Day Noon) directed by Mojtaba Ra’ee
21. “Keifar” (Punishment) directed by Hasan Fathi
22. “Kimia va Khak” directed by Abbas Rafe’ee
23. “Molke Soleiman” (Solomon’s Kingdom) directed by Shahriar Bahrani
24. “Nofoozi” (The Insider) directed by Ahmad Kaveri and Mehdi Foyoozi
25. “Haft Daghighe ta Paeez” (Seven Minutes to Autumn) directed by Alireza Amini
26. “Yek Gozareshe Vaghe’ee” (A True Report) directed by Daryoosh Farhang