The 3rd Sobh International Media Festival inaugurates
A press conference for the 3rd Sobh International Media Festival was held on November 30, at the presence of the festival secretary and media members.
According to the public relations of the event, during this press conference, Ehsan Kaveh, the festival secretary, announced the release of the call for entry and said, “If the festival audience have works to participate in the third edition of the event, they can register them by visiting the website of this festival at sobhfestival.com.”
Kaveh continued, “In the second edition, we received over 3 thousand works from different countries, such as the United States, Ireland, Chile and Canada. From today until February, the time when the selection committee members will choose the works to participate in the festival, there is an opportunity to register your works.”
The secretary of the 3rd Sobh international festival emphasized, “This festival is focused on media and it has been intended for it to have the least overlap with similar domestic events.”
He also mentioned, “This year’s edition of the festival includes a special section for Palestine, in which cinematographic works will be accepted as an exception. In the previous edition, we had three specialized meetings on the issue of Palestine in media, social networks and documentaries. In addition to these meetings, diverse and practical workshops were also held with journalists and media managers being present.”
Referring to the role the citizen journalists played in reflecting the war in Gaza, Kaveh said, “If we want to categorize the resistance of the people of Gaza in the field of media, it should be said that despite the news monopoly of the mainstream media, it was the mobile phones that gave the correct picture of the events.”
The secretary of the 3rd Sobh international media festival announced, “This year, for the first time, we will have a market section that will cater the exchange of products based on rules and regulations of the event. Of course, we must note that great markets are formed in the shadow of great events.
Further, he said, “The selection of the works is in a way that helps the media mainstream. We rarely see such actions in regional areas. I hope this time we will create the conditions so that the elites and media investors of the countries of the region will have a different look at the production of artistic and media products.
Kaveh expressed hope for the festival to hold in the first half of May as planned and for the closing ceremony to be on 9 May.
The event secretary also said, “To promote the festival, we have considered seven committees, which are the ceremonial and executive affairs committee under the management of Ahmed Ali-Akbari, the works committee under the management of Mansoureh Akhavan, the information committee under the management of Mehrdad Karimzadeh, the festival market committee managed by Fatemeh Javahersaz, the media support committee managed by Ali-Akbar Sediqi, the support committee managed by Mohammad Taeb and finally the workshop and meeting committee managed by Mohammad-Hossein Yaqoubi.
The secretary of the festival, then, answered the questions posed by the journalists.
In response to a question about the importance of artificial intelligence in this year’s edition of the festival, Kaveh said, “It is a technology that is influential in the field of media, but not all its dimensions are known yet, and this issue has complicated the evaluation parameters. However, we are trying to deal with the issue of artificial intelligence and how it is used in the media in future editions.”
The secretary of the 3rd Sobh international media festival responded another question about the cooperation of the festival with Islamic networks and media supporting the resistance in Iraq and said, “Naturally, we cooperate and communicate with all television channels and organizational and individual producers on the same level. And all these people can apply to present their works in this year’s edition of the festival.”
Regarding the presence of international works in this year’s festival, he stated, “Sometimes, in similar events, the number of domestic works is very high compared to foreign works. However, in the last edition, more than 2300 of the three thousand works participating in the festival were international. This issue is well evident in the awards section, and for example, we can mention an Irish comedian whose funny video about Al-Aqsa storm won an award in the previous edition.”
In response to a question about the screening of selected works in the festival in pro-resistance media, Kaveh said, “The rules for broadcasting works are under the general laws of protection of authors’ rights and copyright, and broadcasters must give permission to broadcast works. On the other hand, some creators of works do not want to broadcast their works in different media and have other contracts for broadcasting.”
In the end, he mentioned a plan to support the winners and young producers of the festival, saying, “The Sobh Festival is powered by IRIB World Service and is completely independent in nature. Besides, the festivals aim to introduce people to support them. One of IRIB World Service objectives in holding such festivals is to discover these talents and to support them. .
About Sobh International Media Festival
The Sobh International Media Festival was inaugurated in 2023 with the objective of facilitating connections between a heterogeneous group of international program producers and fostering constructive interactions among them. This initiative is designed to influence the trajectory of global media trends.
The festival aims to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of gifted individuals engaged in media pursuits, facilitating avenues for them to advance their artistic endeavors and innovation. The objective is to establish a robust and influential international media presence. Through our educational initiatives, including workshops and seminars, our objective is to provide artists with exposure to a variety of media, thereby broadening their perspectives and encouraging.
Festival Theme:
The Sobh Media Festival is dedicated to the examination of the nexus between media and the New World Order. In this context, the festival will investigate the significance of local and regional identities, spirituality, family values, and resistance discourse in the face of hegemonic powers.
The 3rd edition of this festival has started its work in two main and Special Palestine sections since December of this year.
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