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Riza Siyami, film director |
Although director Asgar Yousefinejad’s Turkish-language film Ev (The Home) did not win an award at the recently held Fajr International Film Festival in Iran, it received widespread acclaim and praise from critics. Speaking to Voice of America from Tehran, filmmaker Riza Siyami stated that Iranian critics and film writers had chosen Ev as their top selection.
According to Riza Siyami, Ev is the first Turkish-language film to compete at the Fajr Festival since 2004. Although the film is in Turkish, Siyami stressed that it belongs to Iranian cinema in terms of aesthetics and style.
"Ev is almost categorized as an art and experimental film in Iran... In terms of style, aesthetics, and artistic approach, it is an Iranian film. Even its subject matter, the way it approaches content, and its overall perspective align with Iranian cinema," he said.
Siyami considers the film’s critical acclaim an important event:
"Being recognized at the Fajr Festival is very significant... The fact that Ev was included in the main competition and received positive reviews from critics is a very promising development. It received strong support from many critics and film writers. In recent days, numerous positive articles have been published about it in newspapers and online. This is a major step toward transforming Turkish-language films into a wave, into a recognized genre. I believe that the film’s director and producer, Asgar Yousefinejad, will soon present Ev at international festivals, where, with an unbiased and fair evaluation, it will undoubtedly achieve great success."
Asgar Yousefinejad’s film has also received positive recognition on Iranian state television. "Even Iran’s state TV praised the film multiple times. The first to protest the fact that Ev was not nominated for any awards was actually a host on Iranian television. The host, Behrouz Afkhami—who is himself a well-known Iranian director—expressed disappointment that the film, which critics and film writers ranked as the top choice, did not receive an award from the jury," Siyami noted.
He believes that the success of Ev is part of a process that began several years ago:
"In the past decade, there has been a movement in Turkish-language short films and television films, which has continued to grow and succeed. Ten years ago, only two or three Turkish-language short films were made annually, but now, around 100 films are produced each year. These films have won prestigious awards at both domestic and international festivals. I can confidently say that today, the majority of short films made in Azerbaijani regions of Iran are in Turkish, while very few are produced in Persian."
Siyami continued, "Many of the young filmmakers who started with short films are now preparing to create feature films. However, this requires investment and financial support. The Turkish-language film movement in Iran began with short films, and now, with Ev receiving such high recognition in cinema, it is taking its next step. But for this to turn into a full-fledged movement and become a recognized genre of Turkish-language films, many factors need to come together. The support of our people, contributions from businesspeople, and backing from government officials in Azerbaijani cities are essential."
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Rza Siyami: İranda türkcə filmlərin uğur qazanması üçün sərmayə lazimdir