Fadjr Theater Festival to kick off today

The 39th edition of the Fadjr Theater Festival (FTF) has been scheduled to be opened in Tehran today.

Devoid of its international section due to the coronavirus pandemic, the event will present a selection of 107 plays.

Iran’s Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Seyyed-Abbas Salehi during a meeting with the organizers on Thursday said, “Perhaps during the very first months of the pandemic canceling events that had less of a historical record was much easier, but canceling the Fadjr Theater Festival, which is almost as old as the Islamic Revolution, would be a great interruption causing theatrical figures to lose their connections with theater.”

He also noted that “The energy and passion and dynamism in Iranian society indicate that art will not be shut down. The coronavirus era seems to be like the Sacred Defense era (Iraq-Iran war) in Iran, because we went through modes of artistic experiences in those years that are similar to these days. Iranian society has always been a unique and unpredictable society, and these situations will not permit its activities to stop.”

The minister also said “Holding the festival in these disheartening conditions will keep us hopeful, while the difficult situation can bring new opportunities, by turning the challenges into opportunities.”

Plays of the festival, which will be running until February 9, will be staged at several halls, including Vahdat, Molavi, Iranshahr, Hafez, and the City Theater Complex.

A total of 28 plays have been selected for the national competition section of the 39th FTF.

The lineup includes ‘Pandemic’ by Reza Pourtorabzadeh, ‘Bob Bara’ by Nima Imanzadeh, ‘Awakening in Time of Blood’ by Ehsan Janami, ‘Growing’ by Shoaib Maktabdari, ‘Reboot’ by Amir-Hossein Ajir-Arshad, ‘Uninvited’ by Alireza Mahmoudi, ‘I Am Staring at the Sea so No One Takes It Away’ by Hassan Sobhani, ‘The Ring’ by Nesa Soleimani, ‘General’ by Saeed Badini, ‘Soldier of the Commander’ by Amin Pourmand, ‘Commander of the Shrine’ by Amir Amini, ‘Messenger’ by Hessameddin Iranmanesh, ‘No One Is a Man like You’ by Behnam Kaveh, and ‘When Hell Freezes Over’ by Mehrdad Kavous-Hosseini.

The list goes on with ‘Smoking Room’ by director Saeed Zarei, ‘Pinocchio’ by Mohammad-Reza Mahmoudi, ‘Bodies’ by Alireza Maroufi, ‘Rashomon’ by Ehsan Abdolmaleki, ‘Bloody Tuesdays’ by Mohammad-Mehdi Khatami, ‘Naskh’ by Amir-Hossein Ghaffari, ‘Those Years’ by Bahareh Saeedinia, ‘His is Champion Akbar’ by Mostafa Dehdasht and Bahar Bordbar, ‘Cocoon of the Revolution’ by Pouya Emami, ‘Life with the Taste of Gunpowder’ by Mojtaba Khalili, ‘In the Name of’ by Akbar Qahremani, and several provincial award-winning plays.

‘Ajax’ by Fateh Badparva, ‘Among a Great Number of Fish’ by Amir Delfani, and ‘A Cassette’ by Mohammad Akbari are the plays in the guest section.

This year, 12 plays have been picked for the Soldier of the Revolution section dedicated to street theater.

Read more:

Fadjr Int’l Theater Festival to honor 4 stage elites

Fajr Theater fest to host 107 works

MG/MG