With a growing number of
cultural, film based and other events are being cancelled as infections with
the new coronavirus spread, Café Irani Chaii International Film Festival 2020
which started today preferred to downscale its festivities. Trying to
constantly monitor the situation of the Corona Virus epidemic and keeping a low
scale plan to keep the festival going, the CICIFF 2020 started on a low key
today. Shifting from a bigger auditorium to the Culture House of the Islamic
Republic of Iran, this strategy has actually been working for good as the festival
had limited yet quality audience.
The festival started off
today on a good note screening as many as 25 films from across the globe. The festival
which is in its first year received more than 135 entries from across the globe
including Iran, UK, USA, Turkey, Australia, Spain, Canada, Chile, China, Germany,
Italy, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Poland, South Africa, Sweden, Syria, Zimbabwe and
many other countries. With the Irani chai - a true fusion of Indo-Persian
culture, Dr. Mansoor Showghi Yezdi, Chairman and Festival Director and also the
vice president of the Indo-Iranian Friendship Society preferred to serve his film
maker guests and audiences the specially brewed Irani chai (tea) and brun masko
pao (a bread bun spread with dollops of butter) and other snacks. “This is our
roots. I am a true chaiwalla [teaboy,]” says Dr. Mansoor who nicknamed the
festival with the Iranian culture and his own café in Mahim, Mumbai.
Though the corona virus has
just been declared a pandemic by the WHO today, Team CICIFF remained reasonably
optimistic in the hope that the effects of the epidemic will not reach Mumbai and
that they would not have to worry, but they were not oblivious either. Dr.
Mansoor says, “Preparations to downsize the event and limit audiences in
auditorium to even cancelling the grand Awards event over corona virus fears was
not a decision we have taken lightly. This is an unprecedented situation, and
given the vast amount of preparation that we had put into designing the
festival, which was to be conducted on a big scale it was indeed a difficult
but not a hasty decision. To us, the health and safety of our film makers,
audiences, visitors and our team is our top priority, and working on the advice
of our core team, we feel we have taken the best course of action.”
Although coronavirus has
just been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, “instead of postponing
the festival, we thought it would be best to downscale it and let it happen,”
says additional Chairman and Festival Director, Mohan Das. “We thank all our participating
film makers, sponsors and partners for their understanding at this difficult
time. As our grand Awards event has been called off, the awards function
followed by networking dinner will currently go ahead at the same venue where
films are being screened in a low scale.”
The festival ended with the
screening of the Iranian feature film “Daughters of Winter” with a promise to
screen some more amazing films tomorrow the 2nd day of the festival. Presented by the Royal Hometel Suites (A Sarovar Group Venture) in association with the Culture House of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Café
Irani Chaii International Film Festival 2020 is happening in Mumbai at the Culture
House of the Islamic Republic of Iran on 12th & 13th March 2020. The Awards
event will be happening after the screening on 13th March 2020 in the evening
followed by a networking get together.
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