Earlier, the organizers had said that they would not arrange an official opening ceremony in order to allocate its cost to flood relief in the southeastern Iranian region.

A lineup of 22 movies will go on screen in the official competition of the festival this year.

“Abadan 11, 60” by Mehrdad Khoshbakht, “Atabay” by Niki Karimi, “The Clouds about to Rain” by Majid Barzegar, “Toman” by Morteza Farshbaf, “Exodus” by Ebrahim Hatamikia and “Good, Bad, Garish 2: The Secret Army” by Peyman Qasemkhani are among the competing films.

The lineup also includes “Day Zero” by Saeid Malekan, “Walnut Tree” by Mohammad-Hossein Mahdavian, “Amphibian” by Borzu Niknejad, “I’m Scared” by Behnam Behzadi, “Shahre Qesseh Cinema” by Keivan Alimohammadi, “The Pulp” by Soheil Beiraqi and “Day of Chaos” by Behruz Shoeibi. 

The festival will also screen “To Die in the Pure Water” by Tehran-based Afghan brothers Jamshid and Navid Mahmudi, “The Night”, a co-production between Iran and the U.S. by Iranian-American director Kurosh Ahari, “Skin” co-directed by Bahram and Bahman Ark and “The Sun” by Majid Majidi.

Also included are “Butterfly Swimming” by Mohammad Kart, “Bone Marrow” by Hamidreza Qorbani, “Qasida of the White Cow” by Behtash Sanaeiha, “There Was Blood” by Masud Kimiai and “Three Puffs of Prison” by Saman Salur.

The films in the official competition are due to be judged by the jury composed of Narges Abyar, Fereidun Jeirani, Mohammad-Mehdi Asgarpur and Maziar Miri. 

Abbas Belondi, Turaj Aslani, Saeid Rad, Tahmasb Solhju and Reza Purhossein are the other members of the jury. 

A lineup of 10 movies will also go on screen in the documentary section, while 10 short films will compete in the festival.

The jury for the documentary, short film, and New Look sections are Mehdi Jafari, Ruhollah Hejazi and Mostafa Razzaq-Karimi.

Fereshteh Taerpur and Hadi Moqadamdoost are also the other members of the jury. 

The organizers have also announced that films on resistance and jihad will be honored with an award named after Quds Force commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani who was martyred in a U.S. air raid in Baghdad on January 3.

The 38th Fajr Film Festival will be held in Tehran from February 1 to 11.

Photo: Fajr Film Festival director Ebrahim Darughezadeh unveils a poster of the 38th edition of the event during a press conference at Tehran’s Mellat Cineplex on January 30, 2020. (Honaronline/Mohammad Namazi)