Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mehdi Azarpendar, the festival secretary, said: “This festival has started with the slogan 'A Fanciful World’. Of course, we know that the world we live in now isn't all that fancy, but we hope for a time when there will be a great man in the world, making it more fantastic; a great man that calls for an end to the killing of children, so we no longer witness these tragic days,” Honaronline reported.

“A few years ago, we announced that we wouldn't screen films depicting the killing of children, but we never imagined a time would come when, for an entire year, the killing of children would unfold before so many viewers every day. I hope the great man will come and bring these days to an end,” he added.

He was referring to Imam Mahdi (AS), the 12th Shia Imam, who is believed to be still living in occultation and will rise to rid the world of tyranny and injustice.

Later in the ceremony, there was a remembrance of those from Iranian cinema who passed away last year, including Jalil Shabani, Reza Davoudnejad, Bita Farahi, Mehdi Khalili, Parvaneh Masoumi, Hossein Sepahvand, Saeed Rad, Sadreddin Hejazi, Mohammad Jafar Bagherinia, Nasser Tahmasb, and Houshang Harirchian.

The ceremony also included a tribute to the veteran short film director Nima Abbaspour, the late documentary filmmaker Mohammad Jafar Bagherinia, and the late director and screenwriter Bahareh Lalehi.

On the first day of the festival, along with film screenings, four specialized sessions were also held, namely “Genre and Auteur,” “Genre and Ideology,” “Genre and Audience,” and “Art Documentary Photography”.

This year’s edition of the TISFF received 13,651 submissions from more than 30 countries. The number of submitted films is a new record in the history of the event, about twice the number of submissions last year. Of the total submissions, 107 short films are competing for the top awards.

The line-up includes 59 short fiction films, 21 animated movies, 18 documentaries, and nine experimental films. The submitted works are from India, China, Poland, the U.S., Egypt, Greece, France, Palestine, Turkey, Spain, Argentina, Brazil, Russia, Australia, Japan, Germany, Italy, and Cuba among others.

The TISFF has been held for 40 consecutive years in Iran, by the Iranian Youth Cinema Society (IYCS) – one of the most renowned schools of cinema and short film production in Iran and throughout the world. 

The festival is approved by the Academy Awards® (Oscars) and the winner of the Grand Prize becomes eligible for the Oscars.

This year’s edition of the TISFF will run until October 23.