Iranian association sets up Khorshid Medal to honor doc producers
TEHRAN – (Iranart)- The Association of Iranian Documentary Producers (AIDP) has established an award named the Khorshid Medal to honor a producer in the documentary cinema every year.
In a ceremony held at the Film Museum of Iran on Wednesday, the first edition of the medal was presented to Morteza Razzaq-Karimi.
Speaking at the ceremony, the director of the association, Ramin Heidari Farqui, said that the point of knowing who is a good producer is someone who can be both good for Iranian cinema and that the directors would like him, too.
“The Khorshid Medal tries to find a good producer, a producer who can be reliable and productive. We are happy we selected an individual of whom we can be proud,” he added.
“We are happy that the medal was started with his name. I express thanks to the Film Museum of Iran and the association that have always been a big supporter of documentary cinema and have encouraged others to see documentaries,” he added.
The former director of the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, Mohammad Beheshti, next said that he believes enlightenment is gathered in documentary cinema.
“If someone seeks enlightenment, they should watch documentary cinema of Iran, because the documentary cinema of today can easily act as the representative of Iranian cinema, and that is why the documentaries need to know their own values as well,” he said.
“We should pay due attention to these values. As far as knowledge and enlightenment are deepened, documentaries can fly over higher hills,” he noted.
He added that the medal can help documentary cinema be seen, however, those who receive the medal must really be deserving of the medal.
“Those who receive the medal should not feel they have gained it easily,” he said.
Iranian House of Cinema director Manuchehr Shahsavari next made a brief speech saying that he has never made a documentary, but regards documentary cinema as a serious ground for the development of Iranian cinema.
“I believe documentarians enjoy great knowledge that makes one happy,” he said.
“I am happy, I can see my dear friend Razzaq-Karimi tonight. He is a dear friend of us in cinema and I have seen nothing but patience, knowledge and peace from him,” he said.
Upon receiving his medal, Razzaq-Karimi said, “This is a blessed event for me to have received this medal. This is quite different from other awards I have received, and the philosophy behind this medal can act as a light for the future of my career,” he said.
“This medal is a big event, however, we must know that our documentary cinema lacks a strategy, and it should move forward industriously,” he said.
“Documentary cinema should have a strategy, and it should find ways into the international arena. We have big cultural assets and documentary cinema can gain success, more so than fiction in the international arena,” he concluded.
source: Tehran Times