TEHRAN – Cinema Organization of Iran director Hossein Entezami announced on Sunday that the organization is searching for a safe platform to organize the Fajr Film Festival online if the pandemic continues until February 2021.

Speaking during a press conference streamed live on Instagram, he said that there is no platform in Iran to guarantee the festival entries against piracy.

“Therefore, I have asked my colleagues to find solutions for this issue,” he added.

“If we cannot have any platform to ensure the safety of films during the festival, it will be impossible for us to organize the event online,” he noted.  

The 38th edition of the Fajr Film Festival, Iran’s major film event, was held in Tehran from February 1 to 11, just a few days before the first cases of the COVID-19 infection were detected in the country.

Afterwards, the international edition of the festival, which was scheduled to be held in April, was canceled due to the pandemic.  

Meanwhile, groups of Iranian cineastes called on the Cinema Organization of Iran to cancel film festivals in the country to allocate the events’ budgets to those filmmakers and film organizations affected by the coronavirus shutdown.

In addition, the outbreak of coronavirus also forced Iran to cancel the Tehran International Book Fair, which is organized in May every year.

Photo: Cinema Organization of Iran director Hossein Entezami attends an online press conference in Tehran on August 9, 2020. 

MMS/YAW