ID :
206060
Thu, 09/08/2011 - 14:56
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/206060
The shortlink copeid
“Nothing” director calls on Iranian guilds to back filmmakers
TEHRAN, Sept.8 (MNA) -- Iranian director Abdorreza Kahani asked the Iranian Producers Guild (IPG) and the Iranian House of Cinema to defend filmmakers’ rights.
He made the remarks in an open letter he wrote to the guilds and Iranian cultural officials after they refused to grant him a license to make his new film “Saeid Arasteh”, a film with a social theme.
The IPG had approved the screenplay for the film, but the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance rejected it.
“Is that your place [in Iranian cinema]?,” Kahani, 38, asked the IPG officials.
“How do you plan to defend cineastes? If I was in your place, I would never remain at the guild for a moment. Your duty is to defend me,” he added.
He also asked the Iranian House of Cinema to pursue the matter of his “lost rights” otherwise, he said that he would end his membership in the house, which is the Iranian cineastes’ guild.
“I want them to break their silence for me, if they do, I will continue my membership in the house, and if not, I will satisfy myself to be just a member of my house!” he said.
The Culture Ministry had previously refused to give production licenses to three screenplays by Kahani.
Kahani’s latest film “Absolutely Tame Is a Horse”, on police corruption, failed to receive a screening license from the Culture Ministry.
“Several international festivals have asked to screen the film, but at present, I do not know what to tell them,” he said.
His “Nothing”, about a man who is suffering from gluttony, was screened in Iranian theaters with cuts. However, it missed its foreign premiere due the Culture Ministry’s disapproval.
The Iranian Culture Ministry has announced that it will not permit any film intending to depict a dark image of Iran to be produced in the country. The ministry has also said that that no film with such a subject would receive its approval for screening.
He made the remarks in an open letter he wrote to the guilds and Iranian cultural officials after they refused to grant him a license to make his new film “Saeid Arasteh”, a film with a social theme.
The IPG had approved the screenplay for the film, but the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance rejected it.
“Is that your place [in Iranian cinema]?,” Kahani, 38, asked the IPG officials.
“How do you plan to defend cineastes? If I was in your place, I would never remain at the guild for a moment. Your duty is to defend me,” he added.
He also asked the Iranian House of Cinema to pursue the matter of his “lost rights” otherwise, he said that he would end his membership in the house, which is the Iranian cineastes’ guild.
“I want them to break their silence for me, if they do, I will continue my membership in the house, and if not, I will satisfy myself to be just a member of my house!” he said.
The Culture Ministry had previously refused to give production licenses to three screenplays by Kahani.
Kahani’s latest film “Absolutely Tame Is a Horse”, on police corruption, failed to receive a screening license from the Culture Ministry.
“Several international festivals have asked to screen the film, but at present, I do not know what to tell them,” he said.
His “Nothing”, about a man who is suffering from gluttony, was screened in Iranian theaters with cuts. However, it missed its foreign premiere due the Culture Ministry’s disapproval.
The Iranian Culture Ministry has announced that it will not permit any film intending to depict a dark image of Iran to be produced in the country. The ministry has also said that that no film with such a subject would receive its approval for screening.
