Khosro Sinaei (director): Jury's Votes Depend on Its Members Unfortunately I was not present at the festival this year and did not see the films, screened during the festival. But in every festival, the judgement of the jury depends on its members. Fereshteh Taerpour (producer): Judgements Are Emotional 1- I have been a member of the jury. It is impossible to select certain films out of 20 films and gain the approval of all members of the jury. It is difficult to comment on how films are judged. Each jury has its own taste. However, this year it was very difficult to reach a consensus.

I am sure that no specialized jury judges films in accordance with social or political estimations, but they may have positive or negative feelings about a film. This helps them to present their judgement about a film as soon as possible.

I, myself, have problems in selecting the best actor. I believe that although young and amateur actors and actresses should be encouraged and rewarded, due attention should also be paid to professional actors and actresses. And this has not taken place in recent years. For example, Niki Karimi, despite her strong performance in ****The Hidden Half**** and long cinematic experience, was not even nominated for the Best Actress Prize.

This year's films are technically and structurally better. Sometimes, a film may not be very good but may enjoy good music or stage-designing. I believe the members of the jury should judge a film based on certain criteria.

This year, many people were surprised by the jury's best actor choice. I think the film ****The Rain**** by Majid Majidi is a good film, but I believe there were other good films too. I am not asking why some films received prizes in the festival, but what I am asking is why certain films did not receive prizes.

2- As for the themes of films, the structure of this year's festival indicates that directors, filmmakers and writers feel more freedom in dealing with social subjects with a political leaning. This is very good, but it is not enough for our cinema.

Unfortunately, in our country, when a film succeeds, other filmmakers try to make films with the same theme, and this is not good. Except the film ****The Rain**** by Majid Majidi, the films in this year's festival dealt with legal or social issues. For example, there were no comedies, children's films or serious films about sacred defense in the 19th Fajr International Film Festival.

Nader Moqaddas (director): The Jury Did Not Respect Its Own Statement

Since the jury members were my friends and colleagues and I didn't see all the films, it is hard for me to comment on the judgement. Meanwhile, it seems that apart from the policies of the festival, judgement is in accordance with the jury's taste.

With regard to the content of the statement issued by the jury which indicated that most of the festival's films were made to be screened in international film festivals, and that less attention has been paid to the Iranian films produced for the domestic market, the judgement of the jury was contrary to what is said in the statement.

If we review the judgement of the jury, we find that some of the films that were awarded prizes in this festival were made with the aim of taking part in the international film festivals. One of the films which drew much attention in the festival even had a foreign producer. Certainly, similar films will be made in the future to participate in international film festivals.

In my opinion, the jury should respect its statement. However, I believe that the films which were awarded prizes were good films, and I am not opposed to their success in the festival. But when we are supposed to support the country's local cinema, why do we ignore the films which could draw attention in this connection?

In our cinema, respecting and praising great actors should be taught to the young people. When there are professional actors, the best prize should not be awarded to a young man with not enough experience.

As regards the comparison between this year and last year's festival, I cannot comment because I was not present at the previous festival. But I think there were just a few good films in this year's festival. However, the film ****Killing Rabid Dogs**** by Bahram Beizaei was warmly welcomed by the audience. Many films in this year's festival did not even deserve to be mentioned. I hope we will have a better festival in the future.