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Sun, Oct 10, 2010 | The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center

The annual film festival at Tehran’s Cinema House, September 16, 2010

Iran’s Movie Industry Clashes With Ministry of Islamic Guidance

A serious conflict broke out in recent days between top personalities in Iran’s movie industry and the Ministry of Islamic Guidance. The conflict began following the 14th annual film festival held at Tehran’s Cinema House on September 16.

At a ceremony during the festival, Asghar Farhadi was awarded best director of the year for his film About Elly. The film follows the story of an Iranian matchmaker who invites a teacher named Elly to a vacation on the shores of the Caspian Sea in the hope of setting her up with a divorced man who came back to Iran after a stay in Germany. The matchmaker is played by movie star Golshifteh Farahani, who sparked an outrage in Iran in 2008 due to her involvement in the film Body of Lies, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe.

In his acceptance speech, Farhadi criticized the government’s policy on culture and cinema, expressing hope that Iran’s political situation will eventually reach a point where Iranian filmmakers and actors currently residing abroad will be able to return home and resume their artistic work alongside filmmakers who live in Iran but are limited in their ability to create movies.

In addition to Farhadi’s provocative remarks, the authorities were also angered by the appearance at the ceremony of film director Rakhshan Bani-E’temad and her daughter, actress Baran Kowsari, who came to the ceremony wearing a green-colored bracelet and scarf, green being the color of the reformist opposition.

Following the ceremony, Islamic Guidance Minister Mohammad Hosseini voiced strong criticism of the film industry leaders and said that culture figures, artists, and filmmakers should not become involved in political affairs. At a press conference called by Hosseini, he said that it was inappropriate for someone to come on stage wearing a green bracelet one year after the election. He condemned the attempt made by some filmmakers to revive “the dead green movement”, saying that attempt was futile.

Referring to Farhadi’s remarks during the ceremony, Hosseini said that the expectation for anti-revolutionary personalities to come back to Iran to a red carpet reception by the government proved that it was not just about cinema. The problem, said the minister, is with those who seek to systematically undermine Islamic values (Mehr, October 2).

The Ministry of Islamic Guidance moved from words to action when Javad Shamaqdari, the deputy culture minister of film, said last week that the ministry decided to revoke Farhadi’s license to make his new movie. Shamaqdari strongly criticized Farhadi’s remarks, saying he would like to apologize to the families of those who sacrificed their lives for the Islamic revolution for the way the annual film festival was conducted (ISNA, October 2).

In response to Shamaqdari’s remarks, Cinema House director Mohammad Mehdi Asgarpour sent a strong-worded letter to the minister of Islamic guidance, attacking him and his deputy for their handling of ministry affairs. He accused the minister of being unaware of the art and cinema situation in the country and of having no grasp of the issues under his responsibility. He stressed his loyalty to the Islamic revolution and expressed willingness to compare his contribution to Iran since the Islamic revolution to that of the minister.

He also strongly lashed out against Shamaqdari, saying his remarks were a sign of “hysteria”. According to Asgarpour, the deputy minister’s statement is an attempt to cover up for his failures in promoting the film industry (ISNA, October 1). Asgarpour’s letter provoked yet another reaction from Shamaqdari, who accused the Cinema House directors of turning it into a “war room” for the promotion of political goals instead of the interests of the film industry. The Cinema House director’s letter, Shamaqdari claimed in his response, was written in a language characteristic of anti-revolutionary elements after the Islamic revolution (Mehr, October 2).

In the wake of the escalating conflict between Asgarpour and Ministry of Islamic Guidance officials, this week over 160 Iranian filmmakers signed a letter in support of the director of Cinema House (Aftab, October 5).