Iran’s actress Karimi withdraws from SIFF jury over COVID restrictions

TEHRAN –(Iranart)-Iranian actress and director Niki Karimi turned down an invitation for a place on the jury at Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) due to coronavirus restrictions in China

‘The Two Women’ and ‘The Bride’ star’s decision came after the East Asian country ordered jury members to go into a two-week quarantine prior to the event, which takes place from June 11-20, IRNA reported.

Karimi has been a jury member in high-profile film festivals before, namely in Cannes and Berlin.

Chinese director and producer Huang Jianxin will lead the jury as the president at this year’s event in Shanghai.

Huang will be accompanied in the jury by Singaporean director Anthony Chen, Chinese actor Deng Chao, Italian producer and film critic Marco Müller, Natacha Devillers, a producer from France, and actor Song Jia, also from China.

‘The Contrary Route’, by Iranian director Abolfazl Jalili, will compete with 12 other movies for the Golden Goblet Awards in the main competition.

SIFF, Tokyo International Film Festival, and Busan International Film Festival are considered among the most important annual movie events in Asia.

Top-notch filmmakers Emir Kusturica, Luc Besson, Oliver Stone, Danny Boyle, and Wong Kar-wai headed the jury in Shanghai over the previous years.

Source: Iran Daily