San’ei: The quality level of provincial productions at the festival was low

According to the cultural reporter of Tasnim News Agency, the 22nd Festival of Productions from the Provincial Centers of IRIB was held in North Khorasan with the presence of the head of the national media. The festival featured 9,497 entries across the categories of television, radio, digital media, news, poetry and music, research, and international productions, and 260 trophies and certificates of honor were awarded to the top individuals and works.

One notable feature of provincial festivals is the display of the civilization, culture, and customs of Iran’s various ethnic groups. However, according to many experts, these provincial festivals of IRIB, despite these objectives, lack artistic standards and, aside from awarding a few prizes, have not achieved any significant milestone. From this perspective, it seems that the organization of such festivals remains difficult to evaluate.

In this regard, Manouchehr San’ei, winner of the “Best Editing” award for the series Ghesmat-e Gomshodeh (The Missing Piece), commented to Tasnim News Agency about the festival’s level of quality, saying:
“In my opinion, given the large volume of submissions to the secretariat and the festival’s organization by the Provincial Affairs Deputy, the quality level was low. Of course, due to the lack of infrastructure in most provinces, we shouldn’t have high expectations from this festival.”

The award-winning editor also expressed surprise regarding the television film She’ri Baraye Qasem (A Poem for Qasem), which was nominated in seven categories and won four, but did not receive an editing award in the television film section. He said:
“I found it very strange that in such an important category as television films, no awards were given to behind-the-scenes contributors except for the director. For whatever reason, this decision was not favorable.”

He added: “You know better that in television films, many motivated and young professionals are working, and introducing these talented individuals can have a significant impact on their growth and motivation to advance in their artistic careers.”

Regarding the international presence of these works, the winner of the Best Editing award added: “The reality is that the Festival of Productions from the Provincial Centers of IRIB is essentially an internal, family-oriented television festival and does not have much outreach. However, the film She’ri Baraye Qasem (A Poem for Qasem), directed by Hossein Ameri, which I had the honor to edit, does have potential, and its producer, with the collaboration of IRIB’s international department, can submit this work to foreign festivals as well.”