TEHRAN – Film critic and actor Omid Rohani has called documentarian Kamran Shirdel one of the founders of Iranian documentary cinema.
He made the remarks during a review session that the Iranian Artists Forum (IAF) held for Shirdel’s four short documentaries on Tuesday.
“The Mirrors”, “Dubai”, “Silver Canvas” and “The Paykan” were the four films screened during the session.
“Filmmaking is quite easy in Iran, perhaps it is only in Iran where an individual can easily decide to make a film in a short time with a low budget,” Rohani said.
“That is why there are so many productions that even supermarkets sell CDs of the films,” he added.
“On the contrary, making a documentary is quite difficult, since it requires thoughts and ideas,” he said and added that documentary cinema in Iran began with Shirdel, Khosro Sinaii and Sohrab Shahid-Sales.
He said, “Shirdel is one of the pioneers in documentary cinema in Iran, an individual who has made a lasting impression on documentary cinema.”
Critic Khosro Dehqan also attended the session and said that Shirdel has made over 100 films and added, “Watching these films will surely be a good workshop for film students and film lovers.”
“His artistic career has given credit to our cinema, there are not many like Shirdel who has made this much of an impression on an artistic movement,” Dehqan stated.
Since the mid-1960s, Shirdel has made bold documentary films that address everyday issues of his native Iran, influencing an entire generation of contemporary Iranian filmmakers.
“Women’s Prison” (1965), “Tehran Is the Capital of Iran” (1966-1979), “The Women’s Quarter” (1966–1980), and “The Night It Rained” (1967–1974) are among his other productions.
RM/YAW
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