A Stirring Effort for the Unfinished Narrative of a Life: Consultations to Establish the "Minab Fund" at the Cannes Film Market

According to the public relations of the Farabi Cinema Foundation, within the framework of the programs planned at Iran's pavilion at the Cannes Film Market, negotiations are underway between the executives of the Farabi Cinema Foundation and various institutions, national film centers, international festivals, and professionals in the fields of film production and distribution — spanning cinema, documentary, and short film — in order to pave the way for supporting co-productions with feasible budgets and logistics, or introducing Iranian works related to the martyred children of Minab, under the title of the "Fund for the Support of Minab Cinematic Narratives."

The "Minab Fund" has been designed with the aim of supporting the production of works in the form of feature films, documentaries, and creative visual narratives with feasible budgets, or providing logistical backing for interested foreign filmmakers on the subject of the martyred students of the Shajareh Tayyebeh School in Minab, or promoting Iranian filmmakers' works in special sections at international festivals and film weeks abroad. These are the children whose tragic martyrdom during the imposed Ramadan war garnered widespread attention in international public opinion and media.

The managing director and head of the international affairs of the Farabi Cinema Foundation at Iran's pavilion at the 79th Cannes are consulting with filmmakers, producers, supporting institutions, festival directors, and cultural centers to shape this support for humanistic narratives of the Minab tragedy. In this regard, numerous meetings have been held in recent days, a full report of which will be announced subsequently.

Iran's pavilion at the 2026 Cannes Film Market has been set up in memory and in the name of the martyred children of Minab, and a memorial book has been provided for the recording of messages from filmmakers, artists, and international visitors. This initiative, alongside the promotion of Iranian cinema works, is part of an effort to keep alive the memory of children whose unfinished life narrative today defines a human and artistic responsibility for Iranian cinema.

In this edition of the Cannes Film Market, in addition to the presentation of classic works from the Farabi Cinema Foundation, some works by the late Dariush Mehrjui, new productions of the foundation, as well as works from the Documentary and Experimental Film Center and the Iranian Youth Cinema Society, are also being showcased.