Announcing the 14th Annual Farhang Foundation Short Film Festival
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, May 2, 2023
Announcing the 14th Annual Farhang Foundation Short Film Festival
Calling on filmmakers worldwide to submit short films visualizing aspects of Iranian art, culture, and heritage.
Farhang Foundation's Annual online Short Film Festival offers filmmakers the opportunity to compete for prestigious recognition and cash prizes of $10,000, $5,000, and $3,000.
Since its launch in 2008, the Farhang Foundation Short Film Festival has awarded over $252,000 in cash prizes to filmmakers from around the world who share a mutual passion for Iran and its culture. "As we enter our fourteenth year of this annual festival, we cannot help but think of all the many incredible filmmakers whose works have been featured throughout these past fourteen years," said Mark Amin, Festival Jury Chair and Trustee of Farhang Foundation. "The Farhang Foundation Short Film Festival is the only global festival dedicated to Iranian short films, and we are extremely committed to providing this accessible platform for filmmakers worldwide.”
The Festival's submission period opens on May 2 and runs through July 31, 2023. Filmmakers can now submit their films free of any application fees online directly via FarhangFilmFest.org. The award ceremony, during which the top six official selections will be screened and top awards handed out, will take place on Saturday, September 30, 2023.
Farhang Foundation is pleased to announce this year's esteemed jury panel. The impressive group includes a diverse and talented team of international visionaries, each with a unique background in film and television. This year we are delighted to welcome back Ms. Lily Amir-Arjomand, the doyenne of Iranian culture and founder and champion behind Iran's influential Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults "Kanoon," Desiree Akhavan, award-winning filmmaker and star of APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR and THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST, Maryam Keshavarz, two-time winner of the audience award at the Sundance Film Festival, including her 2023 win for her latest film THE PERSIAN VERSION, Roya Rastegar, curator, and award-winning filmmaker responsible for such incredible projects as CYPHER, THE LEGACY OF BLACK WALL STREET and GAGA: FIVE FOOT TWO, and last but not least Necar Zadegan, star of screen and stage who debuted on Broadway opposite Robin Williams in the acclaimed BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO and who is known to television audiences for her many roles in such landmark series as 24, GIRLFRIENDS' GUIDE TO DIVORCE, NCIS: NEW ORLEANS, MASTERS OF SEX and MAYOR OF KINGSTOWN.
Every year Farhang Foundation strives to invite a diverse group of visionaries to join our jury panel and to enrich the festival competition with their expertise, said Alireza Ardekani, Executive Director of Farhang Foundation. "With the current WOMAN LIFE FREEDOM movement on everyone's consciousness, we are delighted to welcome this year's amazing group of women who are gracing our jury panel with their expertise and point of view on cinema."
The announcement of last year's 2022 festival winners was postponed due to the cancellation of the 2022 Award Ceremony in consideration for the death of Mahsa Amini and the WOMAN LIFE FREEDOM movement of Iran. Farhang Foundation is now happy to announce that all six 2022 finalist films are currently being screened as part of this year's UCLA CELEBRATION OF IRANIAN CINEMA at the Hammer Museum's Billy Wilder Theater by the UCLA Film and Television Archive in Los Angeles now through May 14, and the top awards of 2022 will be announced throughout this year's series at the Billy Wilder.
Short film submissions should be under fifteen minutes in length, and can be of any genre or style, visualizing an aspect of Iranian art, history, culture, crafts, cuisine, literature, music or lifestyle that will inspire and spark the audience's interest in learning more about Iran. All foreign language submissions must include English subtitles. The full submissions requirements please visit Terms & Conditions.
All entries will be judged for creativity, quality, and originality by the esteemed jury panel. Views expressed by the filmmakers do not represent those of Farhang Foundation or the jury panel. For more information, including deadlines, and past winning films, visit the official Festival website at FarhangFilmFest.org.
ABOUT THE JURY
MARK AMIN- JURY CHAIR, is currently the CEO of Sobini Films, a motion picture production and financing company. Through Sobini Films, Amin has produced a diverse slate of feature films, including THE PRINCE & ME, PEACEFUL WARRIOR, and his directorial debut, EMPEROR, which was nominated for two NAACP Image Awards. Upcoming projects include NELLIE BLY, starring Chloe Grace Moretz in the leading role, and ZORRO 2.0, a futuristic reboot of the lucrative Zorro franchise starring Gael García Bernal. Mr. Amin served as Vice Chairman and member of the board of directors of Lionsgate Entertainment from 2000 to 2009.
DESIREE AKHAVAN is best known for her feature debut APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR as well as THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST, which won the 2018 Sundance Grand Jury Award. More recently she co-wrote, directed and starred in the Hulu original series, THE BISEXUAL. As a television director, Akhavan’s worked on a breadth of shows including HACKS, RAMY and the upcoming TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS.
Lily Amir-Arjomand, is the visionary founder and champion behind one of the most progressive institutions for the culture, education and creativity of children and young adults, known as "Kanoon" in Iran. The Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, was involved in various cultural and artistic activities. Ms. Amir-Arjomand formed Kanoon by building a network of permanent and mobile libraries across Iran to promote culture and education to children and young adults. The organization was at the center of the vanguard of cultural production in Iran through the 1970s, serving as the platform through which many of Iran’s most highly regarded creative minds launched their careers, including filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, graphic designer Morteza Momayez, animator Noureddin Zarrinkelk, and painter Ali Akbar Sadeghi.
Maryam Keshavarz is an Iranian-American writer, director, and producer. Her first narrative feature, CIRCUMSTANCE, won the Audience Award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, best debut film at the Rome Film Festival, the Audience Award at Outfest, and a dozen other awards. Maryam's sophomore feature VIPER CLUB starring Academy Award Winner Susan Sarandon had its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival 2018. THE PERSIAN VERSION, an epic dramedy of migration, family, and the secrets we keep, that traverses decades and toggles between the United States and Iran, is Maryam’s third feature premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival in Main US Competition. THE PERSIAN VERSION won rave reviews as well as the Audience Award and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, making Keshavarz the only director in Sundance history to win the Audience Award twice. THE PERSIAN VERSION was acquired by Sony Picture Classics and will be distributed theatrically in Fall 2023.
Roya Rastegar is a curator and award-winning filmmaker. Her retrospective film series on the “Black New Realism” wave in the 1990s is currently on at the American Cinematheque through May 2023. Rastegar is the writer of QUEENMAKER (2023), in collaboration with director Zackary Drucker, and magical realist documentary WILDNESS (2012), in collaboration with MacArthur Genius fellow, director Wu Tsang. Her producing credits include CYPHER, a hybrid documentary/fiction starring Tierra Whack (World Premiere, Tribeca 2023); romantic comedy fiction feature VENUS AS A BOY (Tribeca Film Festival 2021); docu-series THE LEGACY OF BLACK WALL STREET (OWN 2021); and GAGA: FIVE FOOT TWO (2018) the acclaimed documentary portrait of Lady Gaga. With over two decades of programming experience from Sundance to Tribeca, Rastegar has collaboratively curated the film debuts of the most celebrated directors working today. She serves on the editorial board of SEEN, a journal of film and visual culture focused on Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities globally, published by BlackStar Projects.
Necar Zadegan is a versatile actress known for a career on stage and screen. She made her Broadway debut in the original cast of Rajiv Joseph's Pulitzer Prize nominated and multi Tony award accoladed BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO opposite Robin Williams. She is well known to audiences for her beloved roles in American television, most notably 24, GIRLFRIENDS' GUIDE TO DIVORCE, NCIS: NEW ORLEANS, and MASTERS OF SEX to name a few.
She currently stars opposite Jeremy Renner in the critically acclaimed series MAYOR OF KINGSTOWN streaming now on Paramount Plus and is also starring in the upcoming Miramax feature film INHERITANCE.
Necar is currently an ambassador for BuildOn.org and travels with them around the world building schools for children.
About Farhang Foundation
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Farhang Foundation is a member-supported nonreligious, nonpolitical and nonprofit foundation established in 2008 to celebrate and promote Iranian art and culture for the benefit of the community-at-large. The foundation supports a broad range of academic and cultural activities by funding university programs, diverse cultural programs such as the celebrations of Nowruz, and Shab-e Yalda as well as musical performances, film screenings and festivals. |
For media inquiries contact:
Tannaz Guivi | press@farhang.org / 310-666-1546
