TEHRAN – The 14th edition of Cinéma Vérité, Iran’s major international festival for documentary films, has honored veteran documentarian Mahvash Sheikholeslami with a lifetime achievement award. 

Sheikholeslami was honored on Wednesday. Speaking at the honoring ceremony, she expressed thanks to her friends who had spoken beautiful words about her at the online honoring ceremony.

She also talked about her latest documentary which introduces Nikolai Markov, an architect of Russian origin who built many beautiful structures across the country including the Post Building in Tehran.

“I usually pay close attention to the aesthetics of buildings. We had gone to the building on several occasions, but we didn’t know who the architect is, and this helped me introduce Markov in my documentary, which I hope will be ready next year,” she said.
 
“Where Do I Belong” and “Old Man of Hara” are among her noteworthy credits. 

The organizers also paid tribute to documentarian Hamid Soheili (1948-2020). “Isfahan, Half of the World” is one of his credits. 

Due to the pandemic, this year’s Cinéma Vérité is being held entirely online and the programs are available on Filimo, TVA and Hashure, the Iranian platforms providing video on demand (VOD) service for films.

Every day, several films are being introduced during the event, while a number of top Iranian and international documentarians and critics are holding online workshops and panel discussions. 

The Documentary and Experimental Film Center (DEFC) is the main organizer of the event.

A lineup of 30 documentaries is competing for the Avini Award during the festival. The award has been established by DEFC to commemorate martyr Morteza Avini, the writer and documentarian who chronicled the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war known as the Sacred Defense in Iran.

Documentaries on the Islamic Revolution, the Sacred Defense and resistance in the region will be competing for the award.

Twenty-five films on COVID-19 will also be competing in Cinéma Vérité in a special category set up this year to attract attention to this disastrous disease.

Participating international figures include Betsy A. McLane, Bill Nichols, Andre Singer and James Bertrand Longley in addition to famous Iranian documentarians Mehrdad Oskui and Farhad Varahram.

A lineup of world-acclaimed documentaries will be reviewed in the World’s Best section of the 14th edition of the Cinéma Vérité festival.

The lineup includes “Tony Driver” by Ascanio Petrini from Italy;  “The Chilean Building” by Macarena Aguilo and “The Cordillera of Dreams” by Patricio Guzman, both from Chile; Radu Ciorniciuc’s acclaimed documentary “Acasa, My Home” from Romania; and, “A Tunnel”, co-directed by Nino Orjonikidze and Vano Arsenishvili from Georgia and Germany.

The World’s Best section of the major Iranian documentary festival will feature a selection of documentaries acclaimed at 2020 international events across the world.

The festival will be running totally online until December 22.

Photo: Documentarian Mahvash Sheikholeslami poses for a photo beside her poster at the 14th Cinéma Vérité on December 16, 2020.

RM/MMS/YAW