Deputy Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance for Cultural Affairs Seyyed Abbas Salehi elaborated on Iran’s programs at the Frankfurt Book Fair and Belgrade International Book Fair (BIBF) in a press conference held on Sunday.

TEHRAN -- Deputy Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance for Cultural Affairs Seyyed Abbas Salehi elaborated on Iran’s programs at the Frankfurt Book Fair and Belgrade International Book Fair (BIBF) in a press conference held on Sunday.

“Iran will have active participation in the two international events with a good collection of books and a variety of programs,” Salehi said.

Iran has been selected as the guest of honor for the Belgrade International Book Fair (BIBF) running from October 23 to 30.

“We believe this is a good opportunity to exchange experience with the world’s publishers and learn more from them. We have also made it possible for more writers, publishers and reporters to attend and cover the news,” he remarked.

A number of sessions and meetings with publishers, writers and visitors have also been arranged on the side section to provide more chances to seek future opportunities, he said.

“Five major organizations active in the publication of books in addition to eleven publishers and one literary agency will be offering their latest products at the Frankfurt fair,” added Iran Cultural Fairs Institute Director Amir-Masud Shahramnia, also attending the conference.

“Frankfurt Book Fair is regarded as the world’s largest trade fair for books. Iran will display a total of 1550 books in a pavilion measuring around 200 square meters. About 10 writers have also been invited to attend the fair that will be held from October 19 to 23,” he said.

“Iran’s Day will also be observed during the fair with writers, Iran’s ambassador in Germany and other cultural figures in attendance,” he added.

He also noted that Iran has named one day as the children’s literature day in which author Farhad Hassanzadeh has been invited to attend.

Hassanzadeh has been nominated to represent Iran at the 2018 Hans Christian Andersen Awards, the highest international recognition given to an author and an illustrator of children’s books.

Mehrdad Agahi, an official in charge of art and cultural programs of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization (ICRO), also attending the conference, said that the Belgrade International Book Fair enjoys a high number of visitors every year, some of whom come from Serbia’s neighboring countries.

“Iran’s pavilion in BIBF will be in an area covering around 300 square meters with several publishers offering their books at the fair. A special section has also been dedicated to Iranian illustrations and a number of illustrators, miniaturists and calligraphers have been invited to attend and create works at the pavilion during the fair,” Shahramnia added.

In addition, an Iranian film screening program has been arranged on the side section of the fair, in which five films are due to be screened.

“Track 143” (Narges Abyar), “Mazar-i-Sharif” (Hassan Barzideh), “Crazy Castle” (Abolhassan Davudi), “Today” (Reza Mirkarimi) and “Five-Star” (Mahshid Afsharzadeh) are the Iranian films to go on screen during the program, Sharamnia said.

“Filmmaker Abyar and film critic Mehrzad Danesh are expected to attend the program,” Shahramnia concluded.

RM/YAW