During the event, Mr. Kim Changki, the Director of the Korean Cultural Centre in Nigeria, said, "The aim of the Asian Films Festival is mutual appreciation of our Asian talent, culture, unity, and diversity. My hope is that by the end of this festival, not only will our host country's indigenes be more aware of our Asian history and background, but we will also celebrate our countries' collective artistic capacity."
In his speech during the opening ceremony, Azizollah Miryousefi, who is the Chargé d'affaires of Iran's embassy in Nigeria requested participants to observe one minute of silence to honor the thousands of martyrs of Gaza Strip in Palestine who have been murdered by the Israeli regime.
"We've gathered here today at an event that was founded in 2017 with an initiative from the embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran and fortunately it has been well received by major Asian countries," said Miryousefi.
Mr. Xi Luda from the Chinese Cultural Center Nigeria also spoke at the event and thanked all participating countries for their contributions to the success of the Film Festival.
Mr. G. Balasubramanian from the Indian Cultural Association in Nigeria described the Film Festival as a collaborative effort between Iran, Korea, and Turkey.
After listening to speeches during day one of the festival participants watched "The Painting Pool" or "Hoze Naghashi" in Persian language which was written and directed by Maziar Miri. The Korean movie titled "Extreme Job" was also showcased during day one.
On Tuesday Turkish movie titled "My Father and My Son" or "Babam Ve Oglum" together with a Nigerian film named "Eagle Wings" will be showcased. On Wednesday participants will watch the Chinese movie "Godspeed" and the Indian movie titled "Court."
The other movies to be showcased during the festival in Abuja on Thursday are an Indonesian film named "Ngeri Ngeri Sedap ("Missing Home"), a Malaysian film called "Sumpahan Jerunei," while on Friday Philippines movie titled "The Chanters."
In an exclusive interview with Iran Press at the sideline of the 5th Asian Films Festival, Sayyed Azizollah Miryousefi said: "As you know Asia is a very good and big continent with different cultures.
The gathering of these countries and Nigeria as a host is important. This 5th edition of the Asian Films Festival is important to us because we are introducing our culture through our films to host countries."
A young Nigerian lady Halima Jibril expressed her opinion on the Film Festival saying: "During orientation for the Asian Films Festival a one-minute silence was observed for children and women who were killed in war on Gaza. May Allah grant them mercy; may Allah free Palestine.
The fifth Asian Films Festival was initiated by Iran; I would like to thank Iran and the Korean Cultural Center in Nigeria for making this opportunity for a lot of people to meet and watch movies that depict life and culture from other Asian countries like Iran, Korea Malaysia Singapore. We have been able to learn a lot about their culture through this program; I hope it continues to be a regular program."
Another lady from Nigeria named Favor described the Asian Films Festival as a chilling and educative event.
The fifth Asian Films Festival will be closed on 1st December 2023. 204
