A revolutionary documentary maker must have “pain”/ I have also tasted censorship! – Mehr news agency Iran and world’s news
Documentary filmmaker Mohsen Islamzadeh, who was chosen as the person of the year of the revolutionary art in the field of documentary in 1401, said in a conversation with Mehr reporter about receiving this title: “The fact is that I personally did not expect such a choice. I am currently traveling in Afghanistan and when I came across congratulatory messages from different people, I did not understand the story. It was after that that I saw my name in the list of figures of the year of revolutionary art in the field of documentary and I was really shocked! I feel that my work will become more difficult from now on. Both from the point of view of documentary production and from the point of view of communicating with younger people in the world of documentaries, I have a more difficult path ahead of me from now on.
He added: Naturally, after this, my work will be under the microscope more and will be followed more carefully. We hope that I can raise the level of my work higher than before receiving this title and find more interesting subjects to document. I am trying to transfer the little experience I have gained during my years of activity in the field of documentary to the younger ones, and I hope I can be proud in this way as well.
Islamzadeh also said about the definition of revolutionary art in the field of documentary making: a revolutionary documentary like revolutionary art is a work that first adheres to the ideals of the Imam (RA) and leadership, and at the same time, the problems and concerns of the people can be seen in it. The revolutionary documentary should be followed demanding be It’s not like we think that a revolutionary documentary should only narrate the victory of the Islamic revolution or the victory over ISIS. The scope of the revolutionary documentary covers various genres about take From the social issues and harms that the country is involved in today, to the increase in the number of divorces and even regional issues title In Sistan or economic corruption.
Everything that concerns the people can be raised in a revolutionary documentary
He emphasized: Whatever is the issue of the people, it can be addressed in the form of a revolutionary documentary, and this circle includes the pathology of the privatization process in the country to issues related to the environment and wildlife. Revolutionary Art encompasses all of these issues and is a revolutionary based documentary wide And the facilities it has should work within the framework of these issues in order to be able to solve some of the country’s problems.
Documentary “Nobody waiting for you I made Nist” which was a very bitter and difficult film, but I did not look at the issue hopelessly. I am happy that in this documentary I have discussed one of the important issues of the country, the story of women who sleep in cardboard boxes. This is an issue that we cannot close our eyes to
Islamzadeh, who wrote in his career the bitter social documentary “Nobody waiting for you He also said about the relationship of this type of subjects with revolutionary documentaries: You cannot consider a specific subject framework for revolutionary art and for example tell me that I can only make a film about issues related to Afghanistan and if about the defeat of ISIS in Iraq I made a documentary, then I will become a revolutionary documentary maker! On the other hand, let’s say dealing with social problems Part of Art is not revolutionary! I am the documentary “Nobody waiting for you I made Nist” which was a very bitter and difficult film, but I did not look at the issue hopelessly. I am happy that in this documentary I have discussed one of the important issues of the country, the story of women who sleep in cardboard boxes. This is an issue that we cannot close our eyes to.
He emphasized: I believe that the children who share my thoughts and all of us claim to be revolutionaries, we should walk in the same direction. We cannot close our eyes and not see the cartoons in Tehran. We cannot not see the social harms that are directed at women. We cannot ignore children’s work. We cannot ignore the problems of Afghan immigrants in the country. We cannot ignore the complaints of the people of Kermanshah about the transfer of the Kermanshah refinery. We must follow up on these issues. If we claim to be revolutionary, we should make a film about these issues. These are the issues of people’s day, which can become more acute soon, but we must take action and give warnings about them.
This documentary maker continued: Dr. Shariati has a prayer in which he says, “God, give pain to our artists.” Why? Because an artist must feel the pain of his community, people and country. The main issue of our country today is the issue of economy, and unfortunately those who came and went in the form of different governments, could not solve the issue of economy as they should and bring the fight against economic corruption to a good place. Unfortunately, these currents are still present and are sucking people’s blood. These have fallen like leeches on the lives of the people, the government and the revolution, and one of my main topics for documenting this story is economic corruption. The last case that I dealt with in this regard is still under assembly.
The document that my palate made it bitter in 1401
Islamzadeh said: Last year I had a fruitful year both in production and in screening, and from this point of view, 1401 was a sweet year for me, but making a documentary about how the Kermanshah refinery was handed over in the last days of this year really made my taste bitter. I hope the officials of the device judicial Especially Mr. Ejei, who has shown a serious determination to fight corruption, should enter this issue in a special way. The reputation of the system, the trust of the people and the treasury are in danger and we cannot remain silent. We cannot in vacuum And let’s make a movie apart from people’s concerns and then expect an impact.
The story of economic corruption and the economic concerns of the people needs a serious entry into the process of documenting the revolution, and this is an issue that even the new management team of the Broadcasting Organization has not been able to fulfill the expectations that were expected of them in this field.
He emphasized: the issue of economic corruption and people’s economic concerns requires a serious entry into the process of documenting the revolution, and this is an issue that even the new management team of the Broadcasting Organization has not been able to fulfill the expectations that were expected of them in this field. We have not yet seen revolutionary documentation in these fields as we should.
This documentary about the border between blackness and payment worrying He also said to the topics of the day: A situation arose not long ago when I watched many social documentaries. I think the difference in the filmmaker’s perspective is quite noticeable in his film. Documentaries that seek to portray blackness generally look at social problems through the lens of politics. For example, when he wants to work on the issue of child marriage, they go beyond the scientific and social point of view and he has a political approach to this issue and even includes the election process and its sidelines.
He continued: There was another documentary on the topic of women sleeping in cardboard boxes in Tehran, which by the way was also noticed by foreign festivals, but again, this social issue was tied to political affairs, and it was clear that the documentary maker’s view was not in the direction of solving the problem and with only one payment. political pursuit Propaganda and attracting foreign support. In these kinds of documentaries, there is often no point of hope, while basically humans live with hope. A concerned look is quite recognizable in a documentary.
I have many memories of auditing and censorship of my works!
This artist, the face of the Revolution Art Year, said: “I have many memories in this field.” We made a series in 1986, which was finalized in 1988, but apart from a few episodes, the rest of its episodes remained behind the TV broadcast line for several years! From those years that were almost the beginning of my professional activity until this year 1401, I have faced this dilemma. One of the documentaries I had made, even though it was amended several times and we corrected it, it still could not be aired. The subject of this documentary was to deal with the events of October and November of last year in one of the provinces, and although my view of these events was critical, I still consider my view to be within the framework of the revolution and the view of the leadership, and I hope that it will be broadcast.
It was very difficult to deal with sensitive issues that were likely to cause trouble. With the call of a minister or the pressure of two directors-general and a certain governor, suddenly a documentary would be removed from the television schedule. In recent years, only a few of my critical works were broadcast on television.
He continued: It is interesting that some officials agree with this critical view, but there is a minority who have prevented the broadcast of the work, and we cannot force ourselves to broadcast this documentary, but to restore a part of the people’s trust in that particular province. Especially since the leadership was personally involved in this issue and warned that people’s concerns should be followed up. This documentary of mine has been ready to air for several months and the more we delay its airing, the more it loses its functionality.
Islamzadeh said: I must thank those who supported us to make an up-to-date film at the height of these issues and crises. We tried to make a non-biased documentary with the search camera, but unfortunately, our work is stuck in the cycle of amendments and propositions like this, which is not the time for these documentaries. I hope that the opportunity to broadcast this documentary will be provided in these days.
A minister pressured the network manager, but the documentary was aired
He also said about how basically he considers his documentary works, especially his critical works, to be broadcast on television: Basically, the conditions of television in recent years have become much better than before. There was a time when works would be shelved for years due to the slightest criticism. Not even criticism, it was very difficult to deal with sensitive issues that were likely to cause trouble. With the call of a minister or the pressure of two directors-general and a certain governor, suddenly a documentary would be removed from the television broadcast schedule. Like the documentaryMirabI know that one of the ministers put a lot of pressure on the manager of Channel 1 to stop it, but it was broadcasted again. In the last days of last year, the 6-episode documentary “Chahar Chakh” on the topic of the pathology of the automobile industry, as a joint work of Banda and Mahmoud Azizi, was broadcast on the documentary network, which by the way had harsh criticism, although we tried not to leave the frame of fairness.
In the end, Islamzadeh said: In general, I still hope to broadcast my works on TV because I make documentaries so that in addition to attending festivals, I can broadcast them on TV. The work that is broadcasted on TV can have a much larger audience and can even be streamed. Thankfully, critical documentaries can be aired on TV in the current situation.