‘Before the Flood’ opens Green Film Festival in Tehran

The 6th edition of the International Green Film Festival has been launched by screening ‘Before the Flood’ by US director Fisher Stevens at Tehran’s Felestin Cinema.

Screened as the opening film of the event on Saturday, September 9, ‘Before the Flood’ (2016), starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is a documentary about climate change by American director Fisher Stevens.

The festival’s opening ceremony was held at Saba Art and Cultural Institute in downtown Tehran.

New director of Iran’s Department of Environment, Isa Kalantari, and Vice President for Women and Family Affairs Masoumeh Ebtekar attended the opening ceremony.

At the ceremony, secretary of the festival, Farhad Tohidi said, “The Department of Environment should not limit its duties to preserving the water resources. Wildlife is also a vital environmental issue.”

Tohidi expressed his hope that the new chief of the Department of Environment could help the festival raise people’s awareness of the environment through cinema and art, adding, “We cannot consider an ideal environment without having clean jungles or even without Iranian cheetahs.”

An exhibition of the visual arts, which opened on the sidelines of the festival, features artworks such as photos, posters, illustrations, caricatures and video arts by artists from 48 countries, including China, Mexico, France and Russia.

The event's 2017 edition proposes to draw attention to sustainable tourism, complying with the UN World Tourism Organization that has named 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.

As Iran’s sole environmental event on motion pictures, founded in 1999, the festival regards other media on its sidelines as well.

The 6th edition of the International Green Film Festival, held simultaneously in Tehran and other Iranian cities, will come to an end on September 15.

MG/AI