International Film Festival for Children and Youth

International Film Festival for Children and Youth,¹ held since 1990/1369, mostly in Isfahan.

Attention to the concept of childhood belongs to the epistemic world of modernity. Prior to this, childhood was regarded merely as a prelude to adulthood and defined on its margins. In accordance with the modern understanding of the child, the physical, cognitive, social, and moral dimensions of childhood are taken into account in upbringing, aided by the new sciences of sociology and psychology.² In this view, childhood is transformed from a purely physical and bio-environmental (biological) notion into a social concept, and in educational studies it is considered an independent and significant stage.³ The establishment of the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adult⁴ in 1965/1344, and subsequently the holding of the first International Festival of Films for Children and Youth Adult on 31 October 1966/9 Ābān 1345 in Tehran, in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Arts, were among the outcomes of this new conception of childhood. This article examines the history of this Festival of Films with the dual aim of advancing the intellectual development of those engaged in child upbringing, and of highlighting the role of Isfahan in this major cultural-educational event.

Before the establishment of the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adult*, most films for children and adolescents were produced within the cinematic division of the Ministry of Culture and Arts, the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, the National Iranian Radio and Television Organization, and the Cinematic Center for Fine Arts. The purpose of holding the international festival, apart from involving Iran in the international advancement of children’s cinema, was to familiarize Iranian writers and filmmakers with films for children and adolescents and to encourage them to produce.⁵ Hazhīr Dāryūsh, the founder and drafter of the festival regulations, articulated the main goal of the festival—alongside the other activities of the Institute aimed at acquainting children and adolescents with human thought and civilization—as follows: to provide a comprehensive overview of global film production in the field of children and adolescents; to create interest and attention toward this type of cinema through the existing differences and diversities; and to gain knowledge of outstanding films worldwide in terms of form, content, and their impact on the intellectual development of children.⁶

The International Film Festival for Children and Youth began in 1966/1345 with the participation of twenty-five countries, though without the presence of any Iranian films, and continued to be held annually in Tehran until 1977/1356. The festival dates varied: sometimes from 31 October to 3 November (9–12 Ābān), at other times from 15 to 25 November (24 Ābān–4 Āzar), and in one case, in 1971/1350, from 1 to 11 November (10–20 Ābān).⁷ The first Iranian film presented at the festival was The Kingdom of Jamshid (malek Jamshīd( (1967/1346), directed by Nuṣrat Karīmī, which won the Silver Plaque for educational films. In 1968/1347, the screening of two films—Beyond the Clamor (ān sūye hayāhū), directed by Khusru Sīnāʾī, and The Boy and His White Dove (pesar-bache va kabūtar-e sefīd-ash), directed by Fereydūn Farrukhzād—gave credibility to the participation of Iranian filmmakers in the international festival.⁸ In 1969/1348, among the sixty-eight films presented at the festival, there was no Iranian film, a cause of embarrassment, which in turn motivated Iranian filmmakers to greater effort. The following year, the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adult, with seven films—Mr. Monster (āqā-ye hayūlā) and The Misunderstanding (sū‛-e tafāhum) by Farshīd Mesqālī, the bad is bad (bad bade) by Muḥammad-Reza Aṣlānī, Uncle Moustache (‛amū sībīlū) by Bahrām Beyḍāʾī, The Captive (gereftār) and The Weightlifter (vazne-bardār) by Arāpīk Bāqdāsāryān, and Bread and Alley (nān va kūche) by ‛Abbās Kīyārustamī—won the festival’s major prizes awarded by the international jury.⁹

Festival officials later decided to preserve valuable foreign films, including award-winning titles, in the festival archive, and after dubbing and preparing them, to screen them alongside the festival films in order to enrich the event. The screening of films for children and adolescents in cinemas began in Tehran, and from the sixth festival onward also in provincial cities, starting with Isfahan, Shiraz, Mashhad, Tabriz, and Ahvaz. In the last round of the festival, while the festival films were shown in eleven cinemas in Tehran, they were simultaneously screened in about one hundred cinemas across provincial towns, as well as in the libraries of the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adult.¹⁰

Gradually, over the course of the twelve rounds of the festival, the number of films produced by the Institute increased with the participation of major filmmakers such as Muhammad-Reza Aṣlānī, Bahrām Beyḍāʾī, Amīr Nāderī, ‛Abbās Kīyārustamī, Shāpūr Qarīb, Ebrāhīm Furūzesh, and Ebrāhīm Vahīdzāde, thereby adding to the vitality of the festival. In the domain of animation and puppet cinema, further works were created through the efforts of Nuṣrat Karīmī, Esfandīyār Aḥmadīyye, Arāpīk Bāghdāsāryān, Ali-Akbar Ṣādeqī, Nūr al-Dīn Zarrīn-Kelk, Ja‛far Tejāratchī, Farshīd Methqālī, Nafīse Rīyāḥī, Parvīz Nāderī, Murtaḍā Mumayyez, Vajīhullāh Fard-Muqaddam, Parvīz Uṣānlu, Delārām Rasūlī, Asadullāh Kafāfī, and Peṭrūs Pālīyān.¹¹

After the Islamic Revolution 1979, the activities of the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adult resumed after a period of interruption. With the establishment of the Farabi Cinema Foundation¹² in 1983/1362, children’s and youth cinema, drawing upon the experiences of prominent and influential filmmakers, continued to operate despite the difficult circumstances of the eight-year imposed war with Iraq. Perhaps the most brilliant and celebrated period of this cinema can be traced back to the 1980s/1360s and the early 1990s/1370s. The works of filmmakers such as Kīyūmarth Pūr-Aḥmad*, Majīd Majīdī, Marḍīyya Burūmand, Abū al-Faḍl Jalīlī, Pūrān Derakhshande, Kāmbūzīya Partuvī, Īraj Ṭahmāsb, Ḥamīd Jebellī, Faryāl Behzād, Mas‛ūd Karāmatī, Ghulām-Reza Ramaḍānī, Sīrūs Ḥasanpūr, Vahīd Nīkkh^wāh-Āzād, Rasūl Ṣadr-‛Āmelī, and Sayyed Ali Sajādī-Husseini attest to this flourishing. From February 1983/Bahman 1361, when the Fajr Film Festival was founded as the country’s most important cinematic event, children’s and youth cinema was included as one of its subsidiary sections, thereby gaining a history parallel to that of the international festival. In the second and third Fajr Film Festivals, the children’s and youth section was held on a larger scale, and the number of proposal film increased. From 1985/1364, the festival acquired two distinctive features: the establishment of an independent jury and the awarding of the Golden Butterfly (parvāne-ye zarīn) statuette to the winners. After a four-year hiatus, the fifth festival was held in February 1989/Bahman 1367, on a larger scale with seventeen competitive and non-competitive sections. In February 1990/Bahman 1368, the awarding of the Golden Butterfly was eliminated from the festival in Tehran.

The sixth International Film Festival for Children and Youth was held from 4 to 11 November 1990/13–20 Ābān 1369 for the first time in Isfahan, in two sections—domestic and international—with the support of the Municipality* of Isfahan. The official purpose of relocating the festival was to bring filmmakers together in a historic and cultural city and to decentralize from the capital.¹³ However, an emotive account of the reasons for changing the festival’s venue and timing—voiced by Fatḥullāh Mu‛īn, quoting officials of the Isfahan Governor’s Office—has circulated in the following terms:¹⁴ Since during the war Isfahan had been one of the most important centers for dispatching troops and collecting financial aids, and as various parts of the city had been targeted by air and missile attacks, offering many martyrs in defense of the homeland, the atmosphere of mourning had become seemingly permanent. At the same time, Isfahan’s tourism industry had declined due to the war. One of the solutions to improve this situation was the holding of the International Film Festival for Children and Youth in Isfahan, so that by encouraging filmmakers, artists, and children and adolescents, joy and vitality might return to the city.

The policy of changing the venue and timing of the festival, and its separation from the Fajr Film Festival, was initially welcomed, although it lasted for only five years. In the twelfth round, in 1996/1375, for reasons that remain unclear, the venue was transferred to Kerman, where it was held from 5 to 11 October (14–20 Mehr) for the first and only time. The thirteenth round, after a one-year hiatus, was held in February 1999/Bahman 1377 in Tehran. From the fourteenth to the twentieth rounds, the festival was held consistently in Isfahan. From 2007 to 2010/1386–1389, the venue was moved to Hamedan, but in the twenty-fifth round—coinciding with the passing of a quarter-century of this cinematic event—it returned once more to Isfahan. Under the shadow of hasty cultural decisions, the festival was again held in Hamedan in October 2015/Mehr 1394, and, after a one-year interruption, from 2017/1396 it resumed in Isfahan. The city hosted the twenty-ninth through thirty-sixth rounds of the festival,¹⁵during which the festival dates themselves also underwent changes. It should be noted that in the policy of relocating the festival, financial sponsorship has been among the most decisive factors influencing the organizers’ decisions, and in this respect Isfahan has always been considered affluent. Information on the holding of various editions of the International Children and Youth Festival after the victory of the Islamic Revolution is provided in the table below.

Since 1990/1369, the festival juries—composed of adults, adolescents, and children—have been selected by the Farabi Cinema Foundation and the festival secretary. In addition, each year a group of young reporters is chosen from among adolescents interested in media work to prepare cinematic news, particularly coverage of the festival films. A filmmaking Olympiad specifically for adolescents was also inaugurated in 2015/1394, and by 2024/1403 eight rounds had been held. Over time, the festival has included various sections, but its most important award has been the Golden Butterfly statuette, accompanied by a cash prize, presented in categories such as Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Technical or Artistic Achievement, Best Child Actor, and Best Adolescent Actor.¹⁶

Since the establishment of the cinematic division of the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adult in 1970/1349, films have been presented under various thematic classifications, though they have generally fallen under the following categories: “on the child,” “for the child,” and “with the presence of the child.” At times, a fourth category entitled “on the pretext of the child” has also been added.¹⁷ In another classification, films were arranged under six headings, with the addition of two more categories: puppet and animated films; and comedies and entertaining ones.¹⁸ Age-based divisions have also existed in various periods. For instance, in one round films were categorized according to audience age into four groups: films specifically for children aged eight to ten, ten to fourteen, those for adolescents aged fourteen to eighteen, and general audiences. In another scheme, combining subject matter and audience age, films were placed into five groups: educational films for children aged five to nine; recreational films for the same age group; educational films for adolescents aged ten to fourteen; recreational films for adolescents aged ten to fourteen; and films not primarily oriented towards revenue or box office returns but suitable for very young children.¹⁹

A review of the content of children’s and youth cinema reveals recurring elements such as “childlike imagination or fantasy,” “a straightforward story, adventure, and the presence of a hero,” “instruction,” “message and theme,” “excitement,” “cheerfulness and the use of appropriate colors,” “entertainment,” and “future-orientation.”²⁰ Filmmakers such as ‛Abbās Kīyārustamī, Amīr Nāderī, and Bahrām Beyḍāʾī, in films such as Where Is the Friend’s House? (khāneh-ye dūst kujāst?), The Runner (davande), Bashu, the Little Stranger (Bāshū, gharībe-ye kūchak), approached their child audiences with a mindset of “thought-centeredness.” That is, they sought to emphasize social themes and encourage critical thinking in children, while avoiding fantasy-based or imaginative films. However, due to the realism inherent in these works, such films generally attracted fewer audiences compared to entertaining and joyful productions. Their commercial success was limited, and their screenings were largely confined to festivals. A notable example of a successful film that managed to combine elements of fantasy and imagination with critical reflection, thereby drawing children to the screen, is Kulāh-Qermezī and His Cousin (Kulāh-Qermezī va pesar-khāle) directed by Īraj Ṭahmāsb, along with The City of Mice (shahr-e mūshhā), directed by Muhammad-Ali Ṭālebī and Marḍīyye Burūmand, released in 1985/1364.²¹

The following table lists the winners of the Best Film award in the Iranian Cinema and International Cinema sections:²²

Festivals usually derive their existence and credibility from the quality of the films and the work of the filmmakers who participate. One of the crucial issues in planning any cultural event is stability in decision-making and continuity in overall policies, drawing on diverse perspectives and experienced individuals. In the International Film Festival for Children and Youth, however, the selection of festival secretaries has often been influenced by political rivalries between groups and factions, such that the longest tenure of any secretary has been a maximum of three consecutive rounds. In terms of content, given the generational shifts, the festival continues to suffer from confusion and lack of direction; this may explain why it no longer enjoys the same level of vitality and enthusiasm, either qualitatively or quantitatively, as in the past. Festival officials would do well to pay closer attention to the contemporary concept of childhood and to its educational dimension. The first step towards improving the quality of the festival is to separate it from political partisanship and factionalism. The second step is to give value and serious consideration to the perspectives, sensibilities, and consciousness of today’s children and adolescents, thereby providing screenwriters and filmmakers with genuine concerns to address. The third step is to determine effective policies for children’s and youth cinema so that it may retain both its fantasy and joy while also being thought-centered, critical, and constructive in the education of children and adolescents. These policies could, in the future, serve as a vital foundation for instilling human and ethical values aimed at strengthening family structures and shaping the identity of Iranian children. A fourth step is to recognize that children’s and youth cinema, drawing on past experiences, can also bring parents to the theaters under the pretext of children’s attendance. The fifth step is to support private companies and studios. Such entities, alongside enhancing the quality of visual effects, can draw on the richness of Persian literature and Iranian religious ethics, thus gaining visibility in prestigious international festivals and contributing to the further vitality of children’s and youth cinema.

/Mostafa Heidari/

Bibliography

‛Abdullāhī, Bahman. 30 sāl jashnvāra-ye beynulmelalī-ye fīlm-hā-ye kūdakān va nujavānān, comp. and research by Barsām ‛Abdullāhī, Tehran: 31st International Festival of Films for Children and Youth, 2018/1397.

Charkhchī, Marjān. “kānūn be revāyat-e Iranica: tarjumeʾī bargerefte az madkhal-e kānūn dāneshnāme-ye Iranica,” Āngāh, no. 2, Spring 2017/1396.

Dādras, Ali. “tārīkhche-ye sīnemā-ye kūdak va nujavān-e Iran,” Fārābī, no. 56, Summer 2005/1384.

Ḥātamī, Zahrā. tārīkh-e kūdakī dar Iran: az āghāz-e ‛asr-e Nāṣerī tā pāyān-e dure-ye Reza Shah, Tehran: Nashr-e ‛Elm, 2016/1395.

Ḥeidarī, Moṣṭafā. “revāyatī kūtāh az sīnemā va jashnvāra-ye kūdak va nujavān dar Iran,” in Sīnemātūgrāf, Book 4, ed. Moṣṭafā Ḥeidarī and Pezhmān Nazarzāde Ābkenār, Isfahan: Sāzmān-e Farhangī-Tafrīḥī-ye Shahrdārī, 2021/1400.

Jahāngīryān, ‛Abbās. farhang-e fīlm-hā-ye kūdakān va nujavānān: az āghāz tā sāl 1367, Tehran: Farhangkhāne-ye Asfār, 1988/1367.

Mehrābī, Mas‛ūd. farhang-e fīlm-hā-ye kūdakān va nujavānān: az āghāz tā sāl 1368, Tehran: Fīlm, 1989/1368.

Omīd, Jamāl. tārīkh-e sīnemā-ye Iran: 1279–1357, Tehran: Ruzane, 1998/1377.

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Sajādīyye, Narges & Āzādmanesh, Sa‛īd. “zīrsākht-hā-ye mafhūmī-ye durān-e kūdakī dar taṭavvur-e tārīkh: be sū-ye mafhūm-pardāzī-ye eslāmī az kūdakī,” Falsafe-ye Tarbīyat, vol. 1, no. 1, Fall & Winter 2016/1395.

The Third International Film Festival for Children, Tehran, November 9–20, 1968/1347 (Pamphlet), Tehran: Kānūn-e Parvaresh-e Fekrī-ye Kūdakān va Nujavānān, 1968/1347.

Ulampīyād-e Fīlmsāzī-ye Nujavānān-e Iran, 2021/1400.

1. Jashnvāre-ye Beynulmelalī-ye Fīlm-e Kūdak va Nujavān[↩]
2. Sajādīyye & Āzādmanesh, 2016/1395, pp. 114–127.[↩]
3. Ḥātamī, 2016/1395, pp. 177–181; cf. chap. 6.[↩]
4. Kānūn-e Parvaresh-e Fekrī-ye Kūdākān va Nujavānān[↩]
5. Charkhchī, 2017/1396, p. 12.[↩]
6. For the full text of the aims and definition of the festival, see: Omīd, 1998/1377, p. 972.[↩]
7. For further details, see: idem, p. 973.[↩]
8. See: The Third International Film Festival for Children, 1968/1347.[↩]
9. Omīd, 1998/1377, p. 973.[↩]
10. Idem.[↩]
11. Charkhchī, p. 14.[↩]
12. Bunyād-e Sīnemāʾī-ye Fārābī[↩]
13. Abdullāhī, p. 30.[↩]
14. Ḥeidarī, p. 12.[↩]
15. ‛Abdullāhī, p. 5.[↩]
16. Ulampīyād-e Fīlmsāzī-ye Nujavānān-e Iran, 2021/1400.[↩]
17. Mehrābī, p. 8.[↩]
18. See: Jahāngīryān, pp. 16–19.[↩]
19. See: The Third International Film Festival for Children, 1968/1347, Muqarrarāt.[↩]
20. Mehrābī, p. 6.[↩]
21. See: Dādras, pp. 15–46[↩]
22. For details on the changes in programs and extra events of the festival, as well as the screening conditions during the Covid-19 pandemic, see: ‛Abdullāhī, esp. pp. 36, 42, 48, 54–60, 66, 72, 78, 84, 98, 104, 110, 116, 146, 160, 168, 174, 180.[↩]