Iranian director to jury in Turkey

Iranian filmmaker Saeed Nejati has been selected as a jury member at the 19th edition of the Izmir International Short Film Festival in Turkey.

The Iranian director of the acclaimed short film 'It Rains Slowly' will judge at the fiction category of the Turkish event.

The Romania-based Italian art director Massimiliano Nardulli will preside over the jury of the section, which also includes Romanian actress Ana Ularu, Bulgarian producer Tsanko Vasilev and Turkish composer Batu Sener. 

Produced in Turkey, the 15-minute ‘It Rains Slowly’ tells the story of some school students in the 1980s who intended to help their teacher.

Nejati’s short film is the first joint product of the Qom Youth Cinema Society and the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality from Turkey.

The short film has so far taken part at a number of international film events, including the 30th Exground Film Festival in Germany, the 11th International Children’s Film Festival in Bangladesh, as well as the Seoul Metro International Subway Film Festival, the 10th Seoul International Extreme-Short Image & Film Festival and the 35th Busan International Film Festival in South Korea.

'It Rains Slowly' has won the first feature film prize at the 6th Nepal Human Rights International Film Festival and the special jury award at the 2018 Religion Today Film Festival in Italy.

The International Izmir Short Film Festival is the largest event of its kind in Turkey, and the first to award prizes to international short films.

Since its inauguration in 2000, this has become one of the country’s most prestigious film festivals. The event draws many respected film figures from beyond Turkey’s borders.

MG/AG