Tv & Film
Berlin: Independents Plan a New Future for Iranian Cinema
Iranian cinema got a rare bit of good news recently. Earlier this month, two of the country’s most famous dissident directors — Jafar Panahi (Taxi, No Bears) and Mohammed Rasoulof (Berlin Golden Bear winner There Is No Evil) were released from prison after months behind bars.
The elation surrounding their release was short lived: Rasoulof was soon served with new, dubious, charges that could land him in back in jail. And Panahi is still banned from making movies or from leaving the country. And given the continued, and brutal, suppression of protesters in the country by the Tehran regime, there is little cause for celebration in the country by the Tehran regime, there is little cause for celebration.
“Releasing some individuals among thousands who have been arrested during a few past months, doesn’t lead me to optimism,” notes Iranian documentary filmmaker Farahnaz Sharifi (Profession: Documentarist). “Considering all these issues and censorship and restrictions we are facing with, there is a long process ahead to reach to a human condition and freedom of expression in our country,” says Sharifi, before adding, more hopefully, “but we are on the way.”
A step on the path towards that freedom could come in Berlin, where independent Iranian filmmakers are gathering to try and sketch out a different future for Persian cinema.
The newly-formed Iranian Independent Filmmakers Association (IIFA) has taken over the Iran stand at Berlin's European Fİlm Market, traditionally run by the country’s state-backed film board after the EFM banned any association with connections to the Tehran regime from attending.
At the EFM producers’ hub, the group will present its strategy for creating a sustainable Iranian film industry free of government censorship and oppression.
“We have to get past just giving statements [opposing the regime],” says Kaveh Farnam, a producer on Rasoulof’s There Is No Evil and Abbas Amini recent Rotterdam Festival winner Endless Borders. “We have to do some practical things to make real progress.”
The official Iranian film industry, says Farnam’s producing partner Farzad Pak, is intractably bound up with the government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the branch of the Iranian Armed Forces which has immense economic and political power in Iran.
Things have only gotten worse since 2011, when the Revolutionary Guard set up its own film production and distribution company, such as Owj Arts and Media Organization. The group finances and promotes movies, such as Mehdi Jafari’s The 23 (2019), and Ebrahim Hatamikia’s Exodus (2020), that have the superficial sheen of independent cinema. While still toeing the official government line.
Latest News
Iranian cinema got a rare bit of good news recently. Earlier this month, two of the country’s most famous dissident directors — Jafar Panahi (Taxi, No Bears) and Mohammed Rasoulof (Berlin Golden Bear winner There Is No Evil) were released from prison after months behind bars.
The elation surrounding their release was short lived: Rasoulof was soon served with new, dubious, charges that could land him in back in jail. And Panahi is still banned from making movies or from leaving the country. And given the continued, and brutal, suppression of protesters in the country by the Tehran regime, there is little cause for celebration in the country by the Tehran regime, there is little cause for celebration.
“Releasing some individuals among thousands who have been arrested during a few past months, doesn’t lead me to optimism,” notes Iranian documentary filmmaker Farahnaz Sharifi (Profession: Documentarist). “Considering all these issues and censorship and restrictions we are facing with, there is a long process ahead to reach to a human condition and freedom of expression in our country,” says Sharifi, before adding, more hopefully, “but we are on the way.”
A step on the path towards that freedom could come in Berlin, where independent Iranian filmmakers are gathering to try and sketch out a different future for Persian cinema.
The newly-formed Iranian Independent Filmmakers Association (IIFA) has taken over the Iran stand at Berlin's European Fİlm Market, traditionally run by the country’s state-backed film board after the EFM banned any association with connections to the Tehran regime from attending.
At the EFM producers’ hub, the group will present its strategy for creating a sustainable Iranian film industry free of government censorship and oppression.
“We have to get past just giving statements [opposing the regime],” says Kaveh Farnam, a producer on Rasoulof’s There Is No Evil and Abbas Amini recent Rotterdam Festival winner Endless Borders. “We have to do some practical things to make real progress.”
The official Iranian film industry, says Farnam’s producing partner Farzad Pak, is intractably bound up with the government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the branch of the Iranian Armed Forces which has immense economic and political power in Iran.
Things have only gotten worse since 2011, when the Revolutionary Guard set up its own film production and distribution company, such as Owj Arts and Media Organization. The group finances and promotes movies, such as Mehdi Jafari’s The 23 (2019), and Ebrahim Hatamikia’s Exodus (2020), that have the superficial sheen of independent cinema. While still toeing the official government line.
Last News
Arabella Chi Flaunts Baby Bump in Ibiza Before Due Date
Kate Ferdinand Flaunts Tiny Waist in Dubai Holiday Snaps
Christina Haack Opens Up About Anxious Attachment & Healing
Zara McDermott and Louis Tomlinson Share First Public Kiss
Daisy Edgar-Jones Dazzles in 3 Chic Looks in NYC
Jennifer Lopez looks ageless in a towel in no-makeup video
Amanda Holden spanks her derriere and thanks Spanx
Amanda Holden shows off more than bargained as she dances around in her outfit of the day
Meet Harley Cameron, the stunning model who went from a BKFC ring girl to become a pro wrestler and found love
GreenGirlBella, Rocks Emirates Stadium in Painted Home Kit
Amanda Holden calls herself a 'good girl' in white dress with 'cheeky' split
Mum slammed by parents after flashing thong in school run outfit
Lottie Moss makes jaws dropp as she shows off her flawless body
Amanda Holden wears nothing beneath plunging white dress
Comments
Written news comments are in no way https://www.showbizglow.com it does not reflect the opinions and thoughts of. Comments are binding on the person who wrote them.