Renowned Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi has been selected as the head of the international jury at the 14th Bosphorus Film Festival, which will be held in Istanbul, Turkey, from November 8 to 15
The members of the jury will evaluate the films competing for the Golden Dolphin in the festival’s International Feature Film Competition, ISNA reported.
The jury also includes Christophe Leparc, Director of Quinzaine des Cinéastes (Directors’ Fortnight) at the Cannes Film Festival; director and producer Isabel Fernández; Seattle International Film Festival programmer and producer Justine Barda; and Atilla Klinçe, who has over 40 years of experience in theater, film, television, and academia.
Majidi is also set to hold a masterclass with film enthusiasts on November 9. In the masterclass titled “The Art of Telling Human Stories: On Cinema with Majid Majidi,” Majidi will share his approach to storytelling, the formation of his unique cinematic language, and the intricacies of his directing practice.
The meeting will offer a close look at the creative world of Majidi, who tells the story of daily human struggles, hope, and solidarity with a simple yet powerful cinematic language.
Last month, Majidi received the Best Film Award at the 31st Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) for his latest film “Midday Meal”.
Majidi’s films often feature child or adolescent protagonists, explore themes such as childhood innocence, family bonds, poverty, social issues, and solidarity, and are characterized by a humanistic sensibility.
His important films include “Children of Heaven” (1997), “The Color of Paradise” (1999), “Baran” (2001), and “The Song of Sparrows” (2008). “Children of Heaven” was nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
His film “Children of Heaven” was among the five final nominees for the Best Foreign Language Film award at the 1998 Academy Awards, making him the first Iranian filmmaker to receive an Oscar nomination.
Majidi holds the record for the most Best Director Crystal Simorgh awards at the Fajr International Film Festival, with four wins.
According to reports, eight feature-length and short films by Iranian filmmakers will also be screened at this year’s edition of the Bosphorus Film Festival.
The Iranian films scheduled for screening include “Sun Children,” directed by Majid Majidi; “The Orange Forest,” by Arman Khansarian; “In the Arms of a Tree,” by Babak Khajehpasha; and “Wolf’s Hair,” by Fereydoun Najafi, all in the Special Screenings section.
The documentary “32 Meters,” by Morteza Atabaki and co-produced by Turkey, Iran, and Qatar, will compete in the National Turkish Documentary Competition.
Three short films will also be screened: “Solo,” by Amirhossein Ajali; “Lost and Found,” by Reza Rasouli and produced in Austria; and “Shell,” by Hamed Soleimanzadeh and Hakan Unal.
The Bosphorus Film Festival, organized by the Bosphorus Culture & Arts Foundation (BKSV) aims at providing contribution to the development of ethics, aesthetics, and technical cohesive aspects of movies, funding, and motivation in the creation to young producers and directors for producing new films, and promoting the country’s cinema in homeland and abroad.
