The award has been established by the Documentary and Experimental Film Center (DEFC), which is the main organizer of the festival, to commemorate the martyr Morteza Avini, the writer and documentarian who chronicled the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war known as the Sacred Defense in Iran.

Avini, the acclaimed documentarian who was martyred by a landmine in 1993 when he was making a documentary about soldiers who were still listed as missing in action in the former Iran-Iraq war zone in southwestern Iran.

Avini rose to fame for “The Narration of Triumph”. He was considered a “master of martyred writers” by his colleagues and war veterans due to the fervent narrations he wrote for his documentaries.

Presided by Mohammad Hamidi-Moqadam, the 15th edition of “Cinema Verite” is slated to be held in Tehran from Dec 6-16, 2021.

The Documentary and Experimental Film Centre (DEFC) organizes the annual Iran International Documentary Film Festival.

The festival has several sections including National, International, Martyr Avini Prize, Special Screenings, Portrait, Mirror of a festival, Focus on a country, Panorama, Workshop, and Doc Market.

Due to the spread of Coronavirus, this edition of the festival will be held in online and remote format.