Short is not enough!/ Doctors' different view of the short film: the voice of today's generation

It is appropriate to refer to the message of the President of the Republic to this festival, in which the short film is defined not only as a cinematic format, but also as a possibility to hear the voice of the society and face the lived experience of the new generation.

Ambassador Arjan; Amir Sadra Siam- The beginning of the 43rd Tehran Short Film Festival is an opportunity to rethink the place of short cinema and its importance in the cultural and artistic life of society. The festival, which has continued for more than four decades, is no longer just an event for showing and judging films, but a platform for discovering talents, forming new experiences, and hearing voices that may have less opportunity to emerge in the mainstream of cinema. The importance of this festival should be found in the role it plays in nurturing the next generation of filmmakers and expanding the boundaries of cinematic expression.

The short film is not a compressed version of the feature film, it is an independent format with its own language and aesthetic capacities. The limitation of time calls the filmmaker to brevity, careful selection and focus on meaningful moments. In this format, sometimes an image, silence or simple movement can open a world of meaning to the audience. The short film also provides the opportunity to address personal experiences, social issues and concerns of the young generation; Subjects that sometimes find less room for planning in the conventional structures of cinema production.

One of the most important necessities of holding a festival is to identify and support new talents. Before entering the field of feature films, many filmmakers pass their first serious experiences in short films and gradually find their personal language. By providing the possibility of showing and criticizing these works, the festival paves the way for communication between young filmmakers, audiences and professional cinema activists. From this point of view, supporting the short film is not just supporting a cinematic genre; Investing in the future of Iranian cinema.

The features of the 43rd edition also double the importance of this event. The variety of cinema types, from fiction and documentary to experimental and animation, can provide the audience with different ways of narration. Also, paying attention to the cultural and climatic capacities of Iran is an opportunity to reflect the lived experiences and narratives that come from the heart of daily life and social diversity of the country. The link between Iranian identity and the world language of cinema will be valuable when it leads to honest representation of facts and avoidance of stereotypes.

In addition to the screening of works, the short film festival also provides space for discussion and criticism. The gathering of filmmakers, critics, students and enthusiasts can create a context for exchanging experience and forming new perspectives. Such an atmosphere will be effective when criticism, beyond judging the success or failure of a work, becomes an opportunity to recognize weaknesses, discover capacities and improve the quality of production. A festival that takes dialogue seriously can also influence the general flow of cinema.

In a situation where the expansion of digital media, changing audience viewing habits, and the economic difficulties of production have changed the path of filmmaking, the need to support short cinema is felt more than ever. While maintaining its professional reputation, the festival should provide the possibility of seeing independent works and different experiences. Transparency in selection and judging, attention to geographical and cultural diversity, and effective communication between filmmakers and audiences are among the factors that can help strengthen its position.

President's message and the need to hear the voice of the new generation in cinema

It is also appropriate to mention the message of the President of the Republic to this festival, in which the short film is defined not only as a cinematic format, but also as an opportunity to hear the voice of society and face the lived experience of the new generation. This shift from form to meaning, from medium to human, is the most important analytical capacity of the message. A text that tries to take cinema beyond the scope of entertainment and production of artwork and bring it into the realm of dialogue, mutual recognition and representation of social reality.

The doctors' emphasis that the short film is "the voice of today's generation and their view of the world and the future", is more than a simple description, it has a kind of cultural stance. Due to the time limit, relative independence in production and the possibility of experimentalism, the short film often provides more space to express concerns that are less likely to emerge in the official and mainstream structures of cinema. This cinema can pull out big crises from small details, narrate generational anxiety from a silence, and create an image of complex social relations from an everyday situation.

In this sense, the importance of the short film is not only in the shortness of the screening time, but in the compactness of the experience and the boldness of the look. Sometimes, what a long film cannot say in a hundred minutes, becomes a lasting experience in a few minutes and with a precise mise-en-scène. If the short film is fluent in the language of its time, it can become a mirror to see a society that is constantly changing.

Another interesting point in the President's message is the link between cinema and the concept of dialogue. The doctors present the festival as an opportunity for nations to come closer and get to know each other. This view removes art from the position of a tool to transmit one-way messages and emphasizes its communication capacity. Cinema becomes a common language of people when it does not eliminate differences, but makes it possible to understand them. Cultural dialogue is not formed from the path of assimilation of experiences, but from the acceptance of multiple narratives.

However, there is a gulf that cannot be crossed between praising creative freedom and enabling it. If the short film is supposed to be an honest narration of the reality of Iran and the world, it should have the possibility of directly facing social issues, contradictions and concerns of the young generation. The voice of today's generation is heard when it is not accepted just because its content is pleasant, but even when it is questioning, critical or contrary to expectations, it finds room to express itself. Supporting cinema does not only mean holding a festival, it also means trusting the artist and accepting his right to see and show reality from a different angle.

From this point of view, the message of the doctors can be seen as an invitation to rethink the relationship between cultural politics and artistic creativity. The emphasis on hope, empathy and a better future becomes cinematic when hope is not sought in the elimination of suffering and conflict, but in the possibility of honestly facing them. Cinema is not necessarily supposed to present a calm and conflict-free image of the world, sometimes its mission is to disturb the apparent peace in order to provide a deeper understanding of life.

The 43rd Tehran International Short Film Festival, in the light of such a view, can become more than a showcase for showing works, and become an arena for hearing diverse voices and encountering different experiences. The final importance of the President's message will also be measured at this point; In the gap between what is said about the necessity of listening to the new generation and what is provided in practice for this generation to be heard. Before talking about the future, the short film must be able to narrate the present fearlessly. The future that doctors talk about, perhaps more than anything, depends on this possibility, that today's generation can picture their world in their own language and be sure that this picture, even if it is bitter, questioning or different, will be seen and understood.