Rezadad made the remark in a meeting with international films jury members, adding "Isfahan is an exceptional city in Iran. That is the reason why the festival is titled Isfahan International Film Festival for Children and Youth. The international festival has been active since 30 years ago."
He went on to note, “unfortunately we lost Abbas Kiarostami last year. He was the filmmaker who introduced Iranian cinema to the world and made it a global brand. Majid Majidi is another professional director working in children cinema. I liked to pay tribute to these great filmmakers.”
The international jury paid tribute to late Kiarostami too.
Rezadad went on to add, “Iran has much potential to let the animators grow and we must make the utmost use of these potentials. The festival must take animation industry seriously, encourage animators, and attract the audience' attention to animation production.”
He further thanked the CIFEJ (Centre International de Film pour l'enfance et La Jeunesse) jury and a jury committee from China for contributing to this festival.
The festival is currently underway from June 30 to July 6 in Isfahan, screening more than 50 films with guests from 44 countries in attendance.
MS/PR