Ambassador of International Cinema Award

On Thursday April 27th and at the opening night of the 2017 Southeast European Film Festival, Bijan Tehrani, Editor in Chief of Cinema Without Borders, received Ambassador of International Cinema Award from Founder and Director of SEEfest, Vera Mijojlice. This ceremony was held at the Writers Guild Theater, Beverly Hills and was attended by industry professionals and several high rank diplomats and film fans. SEEfest has announced that on the 10th anniversary of Cinema Without Borders, online portal for international cinema in Los Angeles, SEEfest has been honored its founder and editor-in-chief Bijan Tehrani with Ambassador of International Cinema Award. Mr. Tehrani has worked as director, film critic and writer and taught history of cinema at colleges in Los Angeles. He is a long-time champion of international indie cinema and through Cinema Without Borders has supported countless international film festivals in Los Angeles. He has given a much-needed media platform to independent movies and foreign language films, and advocated for stronger presence of foreign language films in U.S. theaters. Says Vera Mijojlic, founder and director of SEEfest, “Our festival is proud of the long-standing collaboration with Cinema Without Borders and Bijan Tehrani. It was my pleasure to present this award at the Opening of SEEfest to Mr. Tehrani.”
During his long career Bijan Tehrani directed short animation films including, among others, Children’s Olympics, winner of Diploma of Honor at Leipzig Festival, Germany (1982), and Children of Jaleh Square, winner of Special Jury Prize at the TV Festival in Herzeg-Novi, Yugoslavia, as well as Prix Danube in Czechoslovakia (1981). He wrote and directed numerous documentaries, and documentary series for Iranian National Television in the 70s and 80s. As a prolific children’s books writer he enjoyed considerable success with Mashti’s Rooster, A Flute Telling You a Magic Tale, and The Yellow Leaf which was voted Book of the Year at the International Book Fair of the Middle East, Tehran, 1992.