Short Film News (SFN)- Hot Docs Festival director of Programming explained about Iranian cinema program in the coming edition of this festival.

"Iran was off our radar, and when we went there we soon realized filmmakers had difficulty submitting to Hot Docs because they don't have credit cards." Sean Farnel who traveled to Iran at the time of Cinema Verite Festival, says to Globe & Mail newspaper.

He adds, "We corrected this problem and have since been swamped with submissions."
Farnel says the festival's selections will help feed local curiosity about everyday Iranian life, largely hidden these days by political rhetoric.

"There's a layer of censorship in all cultures," he says. "And although it definitely exists there, we've seen films tackling tough issues."
Sean Farnel had the enviable task of visiting both Mexico and Iran to attend festivals and meet with film communities last year and this year, in addition to Iran, there would be a retrospective program on Mexico documentaries as well.

Mentioning the progress on documentaries in Mexico, he informed,"In Mexico, some of the government agencies are starting to treat docs like they do features in terms of funding."
In the last year's Spotlight program of this festival Brazil & Eastern Europe were in focus.
Hot Docs, the North America's largest documentary festival, tries to introduce documentaries from different parts of the world to its audiences each year.

The 15th edition of Hot Docs Festival is going to take place from 17 to 27 April 2008 in Toronto.