If there is no censorship, artists will not boycott either

Charso Press: Affected by the atmosphere of the society, cinema is going through very restless and turbulent days these days. On the one hand, people expect artists to be the voice of their demands and demands, and on the other hand, the government wants artists’ positions to align with official views and discourse. In the meantime, some artists have been arrested for protesting comments or removing the hijab, and some are being summoned. Some artists also believe that when their protest does not go anywhere and people’s voices are not sad, it is better to remain silent. They believe that the recent bitter and unfortunate events in the country have caused confusion and uncertainty in the general situation of cinema. For this reason, they officially announced that they are withdrawing from acting in cinema, but there is also the question of whether a problem can be solved by withdrawing and staying away? Do sanctions and closures open the way for the current situation of the society and can help improve the situation? Or is being and being present and speaking and defending the natural right fruitful? We had a conversation with Seyed Jamal Sadatian, the producer of the cinema, about this issue.

As someone who has been working in Iranian cinema for many years and is closely aware of cinema issues, how do you evaluate the current state of Iranian cinema? Has cinema experienced such days before?
Since I entered cinema in 1978, I have seen that cinema has struggled with many ups and downs over the years; The saddest days of cinema were when the country was faced with the outbreak of the Corona disease. On the one hand, we witnessed the loss of loved ones, and the widespread crisis and sadness that prevailed in the society, and on the other hand, the critical situation of the cinema box office had made the arena narrow for everyone; But since the middle of last year, when the situation got a little better, the cinema was just breathing a little, so to speak, coming to life, when suddenly the society was faced with crisis and unrest. Currently, artists are spending strange days. On the one hand, people expect them to be the voice of their demands and to make their words heard by the society, and on the other hand, the government expects cooperation and companionship.
It seems to be very difficult to combine these two demands.
difficult? It is absolutely impossible. Well, that’s why we see that the atmosphere of Iranian cinema has become dusty in a strange way.
Anyway, people are not having a good time.
They are not in a good mood at all. From one point of view, it should be said that the feature of cinema is entertainment and creating happy moments that it provides for people’s time. When people are not feeling well, it is futile to expect them to go to the cinema. This has also affected cinema productions. Of course, this issue has a domino effect on people’s morale. It means that people are not well when they don’t think about their mental health. All in all, everything is very uncertain.
Did you have any meetings with the movie officials about this?
The government has opened dialogue with cinematographers, but on the other hand, we have seen that they do not have a mechanism to overcome many problems. That is, they have accepted that there are problems in the cinema and there are problems from their side and they should talk to solve the problems, but the point is that they have no plan to get out of the problems. Well, you see, we cannot reach an agreement with those whose performance we criticize.
Can you explain more?
For example, we have complaints against the judiciary and the police force; We cannot refer our complaint to them again! Anyway, I want to say that they don’t have a mechanism to get out of problems. When the opinions of cinematographers are not implemented and there is no proper executive mechanism, there is no common point for dialogue and cooperation. As a result, as I said, dust has cast a shadow over all art sectors, including cinema, theater, music, etc. I can say that we had a sad situation which has become much worse now.
During your talk, you mentioned that people are not in a good mood to go to the cinema, but you can look at it differently. They may not be in a good mood to watch a comedy movie, but if big names like Bahram Bayzaei, Asghar Farhadi, etc. have a movie to be released, won’t thinkers and experts go to the cinema to watch this movie? It means that the conditions may not be ready to show a comedy film, but won’t the important works with cinematic value also have their audience?
You see, we are faced with all kinds of people in society, from secular to extreme religious. I believe that cinema should have movies for all these tastes. It is a dynamic society and its citizens have the mental health to allow all these views to speak and make films for all these spectrums. This issue is related to the diversity of genres in cinema, which should include all types of films. Consider that we are struggling with many social problems in the society. Well, enough of these problems have not been seen and the demands and demands of the people have been suppressed and we have narrowed the arena so much for the youth that the result was that today all the problems opened their mouths at once and the issues flowed from all sides to the level of the society. I believe that if we talked about the problems and sufferings of society in movies yesterday, if people saw their words being expressed on the cinema screen, and if cinema included all kinds of intellectual tastes, from political and social to other broad topics of the country, and if people saw that there is a place where their words be transferred, today they no longer felt the need to bring their problems to the street floor. Many times I am told why you criticize in your talks and interviews but do not offer solutions. I have said many times that the authorities should allow us to criticize the current conditions of the society in social films; Let’s raise the issue. When we raise the issue, then other experts come to the forums and dissect the issues from different angles and deal with these problems to find solutions to the problems. This is despite the fact that people’s problems have never been given free platforms. Let’s assume that we made the film “Metri Shish and Nim” and in this film we pointed to a sinister phenomenon and raised the question, why does such a problem arise in society? Well, this movie was looked at and analyzed from different angles. When a cultural work attracts attention with the criticism it makes to society, both officials and people can more easily talk about that work and reach a solution.
You mentioned the conversation and space of dialogue that should exist between artists, people and officials, in which critiques are raised and social problems are diagnosed. These days, cinema is faced with boycotts, suspensions, and closures by some artists, which is actually a protest raised in this way. What is your opinion as an expert and cinematographer on this matter?
An important part of these shutdowns and sanctions and suspensions is because the Ministry of Education does not allow artists to speak. Well, when artists cannot express the current events of their country in their art, what should they talk about? My question is, does Ershad allow cinematographers to talk about current issues? Believe me, if the space is opened, many cinematographers want to raise their points. When they make a film where most of its parts are censored and the final result becomes a lion without a mane and tail, they also decide not to make it and boycott it. I see these sanctions as the most important reason for not opening the space. When the platform for speaking and raising problems is provided, the sanctions will disappear.
As a cinematographer, what is your opinion about cinema boycott and embargo?
Personally, I am against banning cinema, but when I, a cinematographer, submitted two stories to the Ministry of Education since the beginning of the year, they rejected both of them. Why should I think about film production? When I cannot present the existing conditions of the society and the demands of the people in my films, then why should I make them? In my opinion, the Ministry of Guidance can eliminate all these sanctions by opening the space. Let the filmmakers speak, all these planned boycotts will disappear.
These days, news is published about the atmosphere governing the production of films, which is completely affected by the society. What do you have to say about this?
Definitely, the atmosphere of the society has affected the productions and the pressure of public opinion on the artists is very high. People want artists to take their side and make their demands known to the public. The most important question people ask artists is that if you are going to be on stage, why don’t you speak to us? Officials have a platform for their words and it is the people who don’t have a platform. I agree that the situation is a bit unfair, but anyway, this is what the people want. On the other hand, we do not have active political parties; If our parties were active, we would know who we are on during the protests. Now the demands are different. With the five people we talk to at the city level, they have five separate and conflicting demands; It didn’t happen! The trade union means the link between the trade union and the government, which brings the issues and problems of the trade union to the government and speaks their words, but currently that person does not exist. That’s why 500 workers leave the city at once and take their protest to the streets.
What do the directors do with the hijab discussion in their films?
There is a lot of conflict. We spend days when I remember the era of collecting satellite dishes. Once upon a time, satellite dishes were dropped from the roofs, and the next day there were satellite dishes on the roofs of all the houses. Currently, we are facing such a situation in connection with hijab in society. Because there is no legal basis, they fined and took all of them, we came back to the first house. When today’s youth does not want to wear hijab, it cannot be forced. Today’s young people openly say that I don’t want to go to heaven. He says he wants to go to hell. Let them go to hell. You cannot take someone to heaven by force. In many countries such as Turkey, Iraq and many Islamic countries, people do not wear headscarves, but we are facing a double situation in society, which has permeated the cinema. Cinema is the forum of the people of the society. You can’t see something else in society and something else in the cinema. A contradiction arises.
What do the actors think? It has been heard that some actors want to act in films without veil.
When a contract is signed, the actor must adhere to that contract. The film that is sent to the Ministry of Guidance must be complete with hijab, but the point is that it is not clear what the situation of society and hijab will be in another month or six months or even a year, and the actors are also undecided in this regard. If we make a film with an actress in full hijab, but the next year the hijab is removed, what will happen to the film? From this point of view, the actors themselves were ambivalent and are in a state of indecision to appear in the movies. In my opinion, the most important solution is that Irshad keeps the space a little open. This is not the retreat that ultimately benefits the cinema.

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