The 13th Resistance Film Festival was held in October 2014 under the direction of Mohammad Khazaei, which was Khazaei’s third appearance on this platform.

This festival hosted 221 works in three sections: Iranian Cinema, International Cinema, and Light Show. The promotional items section was also not included in the program guide for the 13th Resistance Film Festival. While this section (promotional items, including posters, trailers, and teasers) existed in the festival until the 11th, it was removed from the 12th and was not judged. As mentioned earlier, this omission can be considered one of the critical points of the last two Resistance Film Festivals, because a part of this cinematic event was removed, which accounts for a significant share of the cinema business industry and is in fact the most important communication medium between the work of art and the audience.

In addition, in previous years there was a section called “Golden Pen” that judged and reviewed “screenplays”, while the 13th edition did not have such a section, and instead, the “Light Reflection” section was included in the festival’s program package.

Selection Board and Jury

The late Yadollah Samadi, Habibollah Kasesaz, Parviz Sheikhtadi, Pouran Derakhshandeh, Ali Shah Hatami, Mohammad Ali Bashe-Ahangar, Narges Abyar, Majid Majidi, Ansiyeh Shah Hosseini, and… were among the selection boards and judges of this edition of the festival.

It is noteworthy that in recent years there have been many repeated names in the list of selection boards and festival periods, many of these people (both those whose names were mentioned and those who were not mentioned due to the large number of names) were present in the same position in different periods, especially in recent editions of the festival.

This issue has both positive and negative aspects. The positive aspect is that people know the festival’s policy, they are more aware of the festival’s goal, approach, and vision, and they know the tastes and ethics of other members of the jury. But the other side of the coin is that the selections become repetitive.

In other words, when the selection board is repeated, a new face, taste, and perspective are not decided for the festival’s works; naturally, the form and even repetitive topics are included in the festival’s basket, as a result, we are faced with a festival that, although new films and new names are seen in it, the festival’s mechanism and its underlying layer are old. This automatically makes the festival’s atmosphere free from various concerns, different tastes, and fresh air.

Works

Given that not much time has passed since the 13th season of Resistance, naturally its works have both been seen more and are still in the minds; So it is easier to discuss and examine them.

From Iranian cinema, there were works such as “Ch” by Ebrahim Hatamikia, “Ch” is the story of the arrival of Dr. Chamran as the representative of the provisional government in revolutionary affairs and Brigadier General Fallahi, commander of the army’s ground forces, to the city of Paveh during the siege of this city by anti-revolutionary elements on August 16, 1979.

Also, “Restitution” by Ali Ghaffari was another work of that period of the festival, which tells the story of the recovery of the compensation that Iran has been demanding from Russia since World War II. Admiral Zahedi is assigned to go to Moscow and collect the gold, but he is faced with numerous and strange betrayals from those around him and even high-ranking officials of the country.

“We Have a Guest” by Mohammad Mehdi Asgarpour was another film of this period, which was the story of a father and mother whose three children have been martyred, who decide to transfer their only veteran son from the nursing home to their home. The news of the arrival of a distinguished guest, the unfinished business, and the anxiety of hosting are the concerns they face. Three sons come to their father’s house and we witness a banquet that we do not know where it is happening, is it real or is it in the dream of a father waiting…

“Shiyar 143” by Narges Abyar was also about waiting, but this time from the perspective of a mother; “Elfat” is waiting for her child to receive good news, but she does not know that behind the scenes of this news, a big test is coming.

“Ekhrajiha 1” is a film that had three more issues after it and was made by Masoud Dehnamaki; “Mohammad Zamani” is the only son of Qorban Ali and Bibi Fereshteh who wants to go to the front, but his parents do not consent. Qurban Ali’s condition for Mohammad’s acceptance is to pass the national entrance exam… He runs away from home at night and goes to the front, and his father also goes to the war zones to bring him back, a journey that ends with strange events and dangers.

The Expelled tried to show that the basis of Sacred Defense films is not just serious dramas with bitter themes, you can make a comedy, you can make a film about Sacred Defense, you can talk about values ​​and at the same time joke about it and make a comedy. Of course, to what extent he was able to succeed in this field is another matter; just as in those years, various opinions were heard about him, both in terms of the film’s story and subject; and in terms of its narrative form and direction, let alone.

Looking at the narrative context of films of these and other years of Iranian cinema reveals an important issue. We are witnessing films whose story dates back to the periods of sacred defense, scenes of war or struggle, as well as films that reinterpret the definition of resistance about 3 decades after the war. That is, both works that show the protection of a country’s values ​​in the scene of hard war and films that define resistance in soft war.

Winners

Iranian Cinema/ (Cinema)

Best Film: “Ch” produced by Farabi Cinema Foundation

Best Director: Ebrahim Hatamikia for “Ch”

Diploma of Honor: Narges Abyar for “Shyar 143” and Ehsan Abdipour for “Tanhay Tanhay Tanhay Tanha”

Best Screenplay: Narges Abyar for “Shyar 143”

Diploma of Honor: Ansieh Shahah