Cinema needs drinking

Theater News Base: This year, the Fajr Film Festival is on the fortieth step, or in other words, it is forty years old. Usually, the number forty indicates a kind of highness and perfection with less error percentage. When the most important cinematic event reaches four decades old, expectations rise from it, and it is expected that it will not repeat the doubts, trials and errors of 39 periods, and while paying attention to the opinion of cinematographers and filmmakers, it has reached a certainty and stability in its various sections. An event that has had many ups and downs over forty years and gained many experiences, today it must study its past far from pride and draw a detailed roadmap for the future.

Therefore, we had a conversation with Abolhassan Davoodi, the director of the cinema, who has been associated with this event since the very beginning, and we asked for his opinion on this important issue, which you can read below.

As a first question, let’s start the discussion with the Fajr Film Festival, which is four decades old; From your point of view, which you have been with since the early years of this event, and your films have been screened at this event and received awards, can we say today that this most important artistic event has reached maturity and maturity?
In my opinion, the main problem of the festival is that over the years it has not been able to reach a uniform and growing path with fixed instructions and roadmaps so that we can have a correct assessment of it. This cinematic event has a different function and application in different periods and specifically in each period, and this is the main problem of the festival in my opinion.
The fact that you mentioned that different periods had different functions can be interpreted in such a way that after the Fajr Festival, it also had an impact at times..
This is definitely the case with the Fajr Festival because for many years it was, if not the only but the most important cinematic event in the country, both in the early periods when it was held in a more governmental way with more government propaganda and of course less facilities, or now its shape and image. Metamorphosed, had its own effect. But the main problem, in my opinion, that I was associated with this festival from the very beginning, or I was a spectator or my works were presented in it (from my first films to my recent works), we can not deny that it had an impact on Iranian cinema. But the main argument about the Fajr Festival is that it has always been condemned from the beginning to be accompanied by some form of political ceremonies and rituals, and these political rituals have always been influenced by the government and the current regime. In other words, according to the political taste of the current government, this event has changed its form, and this telephony that was on the way to the Fajr Festival has made it impossible for us to ever have the same definition of it. When you look at almost every major festival in the world, you see that their approach is quite clear. This approach is sometimes quite obvious in the minds of the officials who choose. In your opinion, for example, you can define the difference between Cannes, Berlin, Venice and Moscow, that is, the formal experience of the selected products and the approach they choose. , You know if the movie you make can be more successful in communication and more in line with their policy. But this does not happen in the Fajr Festival, and during different years, the goals of the festival, the political goal, are changed according to the tastes of the judges or the organizers. That is why the Fajr Festival, although it has a wide range of possibilities and arenas compared to Iranian cinema and is considered the state showcase of Iranian cinema, but we can never draw a specific sine curve in the course of its case and say that this curve is the success or decline of the festival. . The festival has zigzagged up and down over the years and this complication continues.
You mentioned that the world’s top festivals have a specific task to do with themselves. Can you tell us a little bit about this?
For example, the vast majority of festivals that are held in this way in national categories and are world-famous have no more than four or five selections and are quite limited. From the best film and screenplay and a special jury award, and one, two more specialized awards that we usually see in these festivals, and it is no longer the case that he wants to evaluate the top and bottom of the cinema. Guild selection ceremonies such as the Oscars or the Iranian Cinema House Festival, whose nature has been removed from the Oscars, or Emmy or Caesar, which is in France, thoroughly examine the professions of different fields of cinema. But the problem with the Fajr Festival from the beginning was that this camel had a leopard, that is, it wanted to have the shape and image of distinguished festivals in a way with a limited jury, and on the other hand, a selection of seventeen or eighteen that all professions Cinema includes something akin to an Oscar or an Emmy or a French César Award.
This duality is one of the main problems of the Fajr Festival from the beginning, and on the other hand, due to the political nature of the festival and its affiliation with the Fajr celebrations, this event has become a political ritual and no independent selection has been formed. The independence and perseverance of the judges has made good and independent choices.
Like?
I will not give an example, but it really depends on the range of judges, that is, those who were able to make more independent choices according to their ability and independence. But this could not continue in a continuous and continuous flow. This duality or even multiplicity has been the problem of Fajr Festival during these years.
Another point that can be mentioned in this discussion is the nostalgia and sweet memories that most filmmakers have a long history in. What do this event remind you of?
After all, these paths have taken different forms over the years, depending on the age at which you count; Certainly in the early years and the times when I started my career, it was a lot more exciting, whether my presence as a spectator or a manager as a referee was more exciting in all these cases, but over time and all these years, this excitement It decreases on its own. Now, maybe the Fajr Festival for me, a director who is in the final stages of my work, no longer has that previous excitement, but all these years cannot be compared. It is a general point that many cinemagoers also mention. But it was the most important and sometimes the only notable showcase for the works we presented. It was very important to us in this regard, despite all the problems, it was very attractive to us.
You mentioned the early days of your activity and the excitement you had this year, the presence of young people in this event is more impressive and they are trusted, as you and your generations were given the field to work and space to be seen so you could prove yourself. What do you think about the presence of the young generation and the skinning of Iranian cinema?
Anyway, this must happen. Cinema, like everything else, needs new drinks, thoughts and phenomena; In particular, the technical limitations that now impose themselves on cinema emphasize this need. These are all fascinating parts that must happen in cinema, otherwise it will not be able to stay alive, and with the disappearance of this generation, cinema will certainly be destroyed. .
What do you think about the independence of the judges in the festival? There has been some talk in recent years that a number of films are being awarded prizes..
To put it bluntly, in at least three periods of the festival in which I was a judge in the main section and I was a member of the selection committee in different periods, I do not remember any of these years that the imposition has been taken seriously from anywhere. The secretary of the festival may have told us his opinion, for example, by reminding us that “these films are from some organ and none of them have been considered.” We also replied to the secretary: Get it! ” But honestly, at least I have never been confronted with the insistence that you have to award a film or change your vote for a film. Sometimes the festival directors, with the combination of judges they choose, want to take this into account, but I do not remember these insistences during my time.
And the last question in the coming years, if you make a film, will you participate in the festival?
Depends on the movie. I have said many times that the Fajr Film Festival is a special occasion for some films that can open up their work, but it is also dangerous for some films, and in the future it can throw them out of the realm of profit and into pathological judgments. During these years, many films also fell victim to the judgments made at the Fajr Film Festival.