The fourteenth celebration of House of Cinema (the most important cinema association in Iran) was held in five gatherings in Tehran. Since three years ago, board of directors of the House decided that every cinema-related guild should have its own celebration. Therefore, independent events were organized for short, documentary, and animation films along with tributes to filmmakers and the main celebration of professional Iranian cinema. None of those celebrations were held last year due to what happened following the 10th presidential polls and only a dinner banquet was held at a hotel in Iran on the national Cinema Day (September 12) in which tribute was paid to three pioneers of the Iranian cinema: Nasser Taqvai, Nikou Kheradmand, and Digaran Tomanian. Meanwhile, profound differences between board of directors of House of Cinema, on the one side, and Cinema Department of Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, on the other side, overshadowed the main event. Farhad Towhidi was secretary of this year’s cinema celebration. The main difference between the Iranian cinema celebration and Fajr International Film Festival is that films are usually premiered in the latter event (according to its bylaw), but the Celebration usually focuses on films that have been screened throughout the year. Fajr Festival’s jury has a maximum of nine members while films at the Celebration are usually judged by about 100 people representing various cinema guilds.

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