A student “protest” in cinema
In the recent protests and their being dragged to the streets, one of the important debates was how much these criticisms and protests have had the opportunity to emerge in the field of art? Could or is it possible to use art to express protest and demands so that work does not end up on the streets? These questions are raised while Iranian cinema has sometimes had important works in the context of political, social and student protests.
Charso Press: In the past years, and specifically in the last decade, cinema has had almost no films with political and protest contexts, and there is little evidence of dealing with issues such as parties that were once active or student movements. These days, when “Student” includes a significant part of the protesting and criticizing sections of the society, the films that were made in different political periods of the country, especially in the 70s, are remembered more.
This reminder is more important due to the fact that for several years, Iranian cinema productions have been limited to comedies or social and family issues, and elements that have a political flavor have been either completely removed, or remain so obscure that many experts Cinema and filmmakers believe that there is no such thing as political cinema at all.
For this reason and also on the occasion of the approaching of Student’s Day, on 16 Azar, some films made with these approaches will be mentioned in passing, in order to review the contribution that cinema once had, as an art that could be the voice of the people to some extent. In this report, we will focus on one of these films and in the following days we will review some other films.
One of these prominent films is “Protest” directed by Masoud Kimiaei, one of whose roles was the narrative of a student who participated in student demonstrations, and several other characters were students who were present in the political current of the 70s, the time when student movements were active.
Kimiai, whose film was at one point in the limelight and its production was attributed to a political and intelligence figure, has said in interviews: “Protest” is a protest film that directly talks about politics. Directly, that is, he talks about current trends in Iran (70s).”
In 2013, in an interview with the weekly book, when it came to making protest films, he said: “Before the revolution, every protest was clear and specific.” There were sides. Your stance was clear. In that period, political groups and organizations had definite lines. Your status as a protester was also clear. It was clear where your objection was. Now the situation is different, every protest becomes a corpse, a dead body. As long as it is neutral, it has no effect. They say “Snake’s Teeth” is a very good movie. I don’t think so myself. Serpent’s Tooth is a straightforward and uniform film, but it does not have a specific opinion. Only its structure saved it. I myself think “Protest” is better than “Snake’s Teeth”. It’s even more straightforward than “Snake’s Teeth” because I only once had the chance to make my own film without getting into trouble. “When you feel left out, your equations get messed up.”
In “Protest”, which he made in 2007, Kimiaei invited young actors, along with old and experienced actors such as Mehdi Fathi, Dariush Arjamand, Pari Amirhamzeh and Bita Farhi, each of whom later made a name and official name for themselves. Among them, Mohammadreza Froutan was at the height of his fame, and other than him, Poulad Kimiaei, Parsa Pirouzfar, Mitra Hajjar, Ramin Parkhami, Sheila Khodadad, Mani Rahnama, Hossam Nawab Safavi and Rambad Shokrabi have played.
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