According to the public relations of Farabi Cinema Foundation, quoted by Tasnim news agency, China Cinema Week was held in Iran yesterday with the presence of the China ambassador, the head of the cinema organization, and the managing director of Farabi Cinema Foundation. The topic of Iran-China film cooperation is a subject that has been pursued since the previous management of the film organization, and in the new period, meetings have been held between the cultural officials of Iran and China. Obviously, these programs and meetings are not just for holding cultural and cinema weeks, and with all the culturally appropriate benefits they can have for both sides, they should pave the way for big events such as wide screenings and co-productions.

Raed Faridzadeh, the head of international affairs of Farabi Cinema Foundation, is an important and main international figure in Iran cinema, expressed important points about cooperation and screening of Iranian films in China. Referring to China Film Week, Faridzadeh said: ‘‘The reception of the third China Film Week on the first day was so great that we were surprised. Many students watched the movie "Captain" from the China cinema. We also hosted many Iranian filmmakers and officials and managers.’’

Faridzadeh, however, does not consider holding film and culture weeks to be enough and pointed to important measures such as joint film production, which can be the highway of cooperation and interaction between Iran and China: last year, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Iran and China cinema, which facilitates the activities of filmmakers of two countries, but the road to that is the co-production of films, which we hope will produce several Iranian-Chinese films by establishing and expanding specialized relations between the cinemas of the two countries.

In response to how important and useful Iran cinema can be for China, he pointed out the importance of considering the audience's taste for selecting films and stated:

‘‘The audience's taste should be taken into account in holding these events, which requires specialized research work, but there are many cultural commonalities between Iran and China that it is enough for us to refer to its historical roots and provide the necessary cultural background. In addition to the efforts of the Farabi Cinema Foundation in this field, we also need a stronger presence of the private section, which is to redefine the market as one of the platforms for its realization.’’ He continued: The preliminary steps of all these measures are ready, and we hope that our colleagues in the private section will be more interested in this investment in this field.

Faridzadeh pointed out: Iran's film week in China has already been held two or three times in cultural advisory (consultation) and the Iranian embassy in Beijing, and another consultation has been held to hold its new period. Most films were screened in these events, the screening rights of which were owned by the Farabi Cinema Foundation. Because the Organization of Culture and Communications and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not have the possibility to purchase the right to the films, so we had to choose among the films that had a cultural aspect and were representative of Irana cinema. We hope to be able to widen our selection circle for the new period. I can mention the name of the movie "Boys of the Sea" by Afshin Hashemi as one of the choices so far. Fortunately, our filmmakers were always welcomed in China. Among other things, last year the film "Reverse Path" directed by Abolfazl Jalili won two awards at the Shanghai Film Festival.