Iranian animator Ashkan Rahgozar joins Berlin festival jury
Iranian writer and animator Ashkan Rahgozar has been selected as a jury member for the New Talents competition at the Festival of Animation Berlin, where his feature film Juliet and the King will also be screened outside competition.
The New Talents section is dedicated to animated shorts made by students at international film schools. Rahgozar will join the jury assessing the films in the competition, which is part of the festival running from Oct. 8 to 11 in Berlin, the capital of Germany, IRNA reported on Monday.
His feature Juliet and the King will be shown in the festival's Feature Special program. The official program lists the film as an out-of-competition screening, with a presentation scheduled for Oct. 10 at City Kino Wedding.
Rahgozar will also take part in a festival talk titled “Juliet and the King: Animation Between Art and Challenge”, discussing the making of the film and his experience producing a feature animation in Iran. The talk is part of the festival's professional and supporting program.
The Berlin appearance adds to Rahgozar's previous experience on international cinema and animation juries. In 2021, he served on the jury for the Satoshi Kon Award for Excellence in Animation at Canada's Fantasia International Film Festival, which selects an award for excellence in animation.
He also served that year on the national competition jury of the Tehran International Short Film Festival and was a jury member at the Thessaloniki Animation Festival in Greece.
The Festival of Animation Berlin's 2026 program features 161 films from 78 countries across its competition and wider film program. The New Talents competition showcases student animation from international film schools, while the festival's supporting program includes talks, workshops, professional events and screenings.
Juliet and the King follows an Iranian king who travels to Paris and falls in love with an actress after watching a performance of Romeo and Juliet. He invites her to stage the play in Tehran, but she becomes caught up in tensions among women at the royal court.