Fajr International Film Festival is considered as the most important film festival in Iran, which has been held annually during the Dahe-y-Fajr (Fajr Decade) since 1982. Fajr Decade in Iran is a ten-day celebration of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, and the festival is called ‘Fajr’, meaning opening.
Participants compete for a special prize called Golden Simorgh in the competing sections of the festival. Symbolizing a perfect human being, knowledge and wisdom “Simorgh” is a mythical bird and an iconic legend from Ancient Persia in Iranian culture. It plays an important role in Persian literature, and its first presence has documented back to the epics of Ferdowsi’s Shāh-Nāmeh (Book of Kings) and mystical works of Farid al-Din Attar’s “The Conference of the Birds”. Honor Diploma and Golden Plaque are the other prizes awarded in the festival.
First Edition of the festival witnessed the screening works of prominent Iranian masters of cinema such as Bahram Beyzaie, Masoud Kimiai, and Ali Hatami as well as the world masters such as Andrzej Wajda and Andrei Tarkovsky.
During its development, Fajr Film Festival has given birth to many independent film festivals such as Tehran International Short Film Festival, Iran International Documentary Film Festival (Cinema Verité) and Isfahan International Film Festival for Children and Youth.
According to fundamental changes adopted by government policies and the improvement of the Iranian cinema in 2014, the international section was separated from the national section of Fajr Film Festival, and International Fajr Film Festival was held independently in April 2015.
Since 1997, an international film market has been held every year along with Fajr Film Festival. The International Film Market will continue to provide the space for global presentation and exchange of the films along with Fajr International Film Festival.
Relying on the experience of the previous festivals and after studying world outstanding festivals, the 36th Fajr International Film Festival will be held on April 19-27, 2018 with acclaimed Iranian filmmaker, Reza Mirkarimi as the Festival Director.
