Iranian cinema wins some 3700 int’l awards after revolution

Iranian cinema has received some 3700 awards at international festivals after the Islamic Revolution victory in 1979.

Iranian film scholar Mohammad Atebbaei on Saturday noted that the awards have been presented at 34,930 international events.

“This means that Iran’s cinema industry has grossed about 18 international awards every week; that is, every week the name of Iran has been acknowledged 18 times around the world,” he said.

Gathering information about Iran’s participation in international film events, Atebbaei said that the number of awards Iranian films have grabbed at international festivals during the past year is equal to the total number of awards received by Iranian cineastes from 1958 to 1998.

He also said that the ante-revolution Iranian cinema grabbed only 152 awards at international events.

“Iranian cinema has stood out marvelously at global events during the past two years,” the film scholar said, adding that Iranian films collected more than 380 awards in 2015 and received more than 510 awards just in 2016.

A number of public sectors, including the Farabi Cinema Foundation, the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA), and the Documentary and Experimental Film Center (DEFC) have sent most of the Iranian films to global events.

Some eight private organizations and international distributors have made the opportunities for global attendance of Iranian films as well.

Atebbaei also said some 50 international awards presented to Iranian films in 2016 were by the contribution of international distributors.

MG/MMF