Coronavirus to move RIFF online

With a spike in Iran’s coronavirus cases, organizers of the 16th Resistance International Film Festival (RIFF) have scheduled to hold the event online.

Ahad Mikaeelzadeh, the festival’s Media Department director, recently said, “Organizing a successful online festival will provide us with a valuable experience to pursue such a method in the upcoming editions of the gala in the post-coronavirus world, given that organizing an online event is more economical.”

He also noted that “fully exploiting the potential of the virtual and media environment in the online version will help the organizers improve the quality of the festival.”

The organizers announced that the festival will be held in different time brackets, the first of which will take place during the Sacred Defense Week on September 21-28.

The RIFF is organized annually to commemorate the anniversary of the 1980-1988 Iraq-Iran war, also known as the Sacred Defense in Iran.

The second stage will be held on November 21-27 to celebrate the anniversary of Basij Day, which falls on November 25.

The 16th RIFF and Iran’s Health Ministry have signed a memorandum of understanding to honor films about the health workers.

More than 370 movies from around the world have so far been submitted to this section.

An exhibition of photos and posters on the medical staff is also scheduled on the sidelines of the event.

This year for the first time, the organizers have also planned to honor an innovative filmmaker with an award named after the Iranian war film director, Rasoul Mollaqolipour.

Earlier in July, the festival has been warmly welcomed internationally receiving more than 1200 submissions from filmmakers in Central America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa.

The RIFF, one of the most prestigious international film festivals in Iran, is dedicated to productions on wars and the repercussions of armed conflicts in the world.

MG/AG