TEHRAN -- The 38th International Film Festival for Children and Young Adults has opened in Isfahan, bringing together Iranian cinema, international programming, educational initiatives and youth filmmaking in one of Iran’s most established cultural events.
The festival, running from October 3 to 8, is jointly organized by the Farabi Cinema Foundation and Isfahan Municipality, with Hamed Jafari, managing director of the Farabi Cinema Foundation, serving as festival secretary.
This year’s festival comes amid a strong response from Iranian filmmakers. Organizers said 771 works were submitted to the national section, including feature films, short films, animation, documentaries and works involving artificial intelligence. 
The figure includes 46 narrative features, 286 narrative shorts, 176 short animations, 50 short documentaries and 107 AI-related works.
Jafari has described the response as unusually strong, saying participation had increased significantly despite disruptions to film production caused by recent conflict. 
He has also emphasized that children’s cinema should be regarded as an important part of Iran’s mainstream film industry rather than a secondary sector.
The festival places particular emphasis on participation by young audiences. More than 1,600 children and teenagers registered to serve as festival film jurors, giving young viewers a direct role in evaluating the competition entries.
Alongside screenings, the program includes workshops, educational
 activities and the Ninth Iranian Youth Filmmaking Olympiad, bringing together 35 teenagers aged 14 to 17. Participants are working with professional filmmakers in groups on screenwriting, production and editing.
A special “Minab, Heart of Iran” award has also been introduced this year. Organizers said 117 submitted films address themes connected with Minab, the 12-day war and the 40-day Ramadan war, reflecting the impact of recent events on Iranian children’s cinema.
Beyond competition, organizers are positioning the Isfahan festival as a platform for talent development, film education and greater engagement between children, families and the cinema industry.