TEHRAN – Iranian screenwriter, editor, and film critic Pouya Aghelizadeh will serve as a juror in the FIPRESCI jury at the upcoming 79th Cannes Film Festival.

The jury’s traditional role is to recognize outstanding achievements across the festival’s key sections. As in previous years, the jury will present three awards: one to a film in the Main Competition, one to a film in the Un Certain Regard section, and a third to a debut feature selected from the parallel sections, Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week. This scope reflects FIPRESCI’s commitment to both established auteurs and emerging voices in contemporary cinema.

Aghelizadeh will be accompanied by critics from across the globe including Renaud Baronian from France, Elvira Del Guercio from Italy, Thierry Méranger from France, Ivonete Medianeira Pinto from Brazil, Edin Čusto from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tilda Sixue Li from China, and Mohamed Allal from Algeria. The 2026 jury will be presided over by Pamela Jahn from the UK.

Pouya Aghelizadeh holds a master’s degree in dramatic literature. He is one of the six Iranian members of FIPRESCI. 

In Iran, he has been an active movie session holder and festival director for more than 10 years. He is also a cinema teacher and holds workshops about the “Theory of Acting in Cinema” and “Art of Editing” all around the world. 

His movie analysis articles are focused on modern cinema and the theory of Lacan’s “Gaze” in cinema, which include articles about great filmmakers like Bergman, Buñuel, Antonioni, Tarkovsky, Andrei Zvyagintsev, etc. 

Aghelizadeh has been active as a critic at international festivals like Busan International Film Festival, Berlinale, Helsinki, etc. He has also served as a consultant in many documentary films about the prominent characters of the history of Iran and some English documentaries.

He was one of the jurors at the 17th DMZ International Documentary Film Festival in Gyeonggi, South Korea, last September. 

Beyond its jury activities, FIPRESCI will also take part in the festival’s professional program. On May 15, the Egyptian Pavilion will host a roundtable featuring FIPRESCI speakers titled “The State of Critique Today, in the Arab World & Beyond”. The discussion will address the evolving landscape of film criticism in the MENA region and internationally, examining how the field responds to economic, digital, and cultural pressures, and questioning its audiences, functions, and accessibility.

The FIPRESCI Award Ceremony is scheduled for May 23 at 15:30 at Les Ambassadeurs, within the Palais des Festivals.

SS/SAB