Culture Ministry has dropped suit against IHC: IHC official

TEHRAN,Jan.12(MNA) -- An official of the Iranian House of Cinema (IHC) said on Wednesday that the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance has dropped its lawsuit against the IHC. A representative of the Culture Ministry went to the Tehran court on Tuesday and retracted the lawsuit one day before the date of the court hearing, chairman of IHC board of directors Farhad Tohidi told on Wednesday. Tohidi was apparently informed about the Culture Ministry’s decision to withdraw the lawsuit after he appeared in the court on Wednesday. “We talked about general issues on cinema and the nature of the dispute in court,” he said. “The judge said that it is better for the dispute to be settled through dialogue,” he added. Culture Minister Mohammad Hosseini said on Tuesday that his office would no longer pursue the lawsuit against the IHC due to its dissolution. “Since the dissolution of the House of Cinema has been previously announced, it is no longer necessary to pursue the lawsuit,” he told . The Culture Ministry had filed a lawsuit against the IHC, accusing it of making some amendments to its charter without informing the Iran Public Culture Council. The court hearing was scheduled for Wednesday. However, the Culture Ministry, in a bizarre move, issued an order last week announcing the dissolution of the IHC. “The IHC has been registered as a non-governmental institute. Thus, it can only be disbanded by a court ruling or a decision by its general assembly,” IHC Managing Director Mohammad-Mehdi Asgarpur said previously. The IHC called the Culture Ministry’s decision illegal and filed a lawsuit against the ministry in the Administrative Justice Court. Tohidi said that the IHC will pursue the suit. The Culture Ministry said that it will soon establish a committee to work in place of the IHC. Asgarpur previously said that the Culture Ministry plans to undermine the independence of the unions in the art and cultural fields. “The idea of establishing a governmental guild is a failed project in advance,” he said. Analysts believe that political reasons are behind the row between the Culture Ministry and the IHC. The dispute began in 2009 when the IHC invited a Hollywood delegation to visit Iran that was led by Sid Ganis, then president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Culture Ministry was displeased about the visit, as they frequently have criticized Hollywood as an instrument of U.S. government. Iranian ministers of foreign affairs, culture, and intelligence were summoned to the Majlis to explain about the Hollywood delegation’s visit to Iran. Furthermore, the IHC showed no concern over the objections and sent a delegation to visit the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles a few months later. Many art and cultural centers began to condemn the people who disputed the results of the presidential election in June 2009. However, the IHC refused comment about the event, and the IHC’s silence displeased the Culture Ministry. In addition, the IHC was criticized last September for issuing a statement over the arrest of six Iranian documentary filmmakers, who have been accused of “collaboration with the BBC Persian service” in Iran. The IHC issued a statement late December, announcing that it would not collaborate with the Culture Ministry in organizing the Fajr International Film Festival if the legal issues raised by the ministry were not settled. The officials viewed the statement as a call to boycott the festival, which is Iran’s most important cinematic event. The IHC will remain closed until the dispute is settled by the Administrative Justice Court. Many Iranian artistic and cultural figures have issued statements asking the Culture Ministry to revise its decision on the dissolution of the IHC over the past week.