Javad Hashemi’s criticism of “strange defects”

Charso Press: Summer has arrived and the cinema, as one of the most popular and accessible entertainment for families, has not yet released an attractive movie for children and teenagers.

Last year, several films and animations were released on the cinema screens and were successful at the box office, but now it seems that due to the increase in production costs and concerns about the release situation, filmmakers active and experienced in children’s cinema have little desire to work. They do not have in this field.

Seyedjavad Hashemi, who had the movie “Space Island” (Tornado 2) on the screen almost since the winter of last year and is now showing it online on internet platforms, about the sales status of his movie in online screening and whether he plans to make a new movie. No, he stated: “Space Island” online release has been in a better condition compared to the cinema release, because in the cinema, only 30% of the sales go to the producer, and for a film that was made in 2018 with two billion tomans and after about five It sells tickets for five billion tomans a year, only one billion and 800 million tomans return to the film’s investor, and this figure is very funny. The most interesting point is that this amount is also subject to taxes, and not only have we not even earned the production money and we have fallen, but we also have to pay taxes. Therefore, with such conditions, it seems that we are on a path where independent filmmakers cannot make films and private cinema fails. I can no longer have a positive view of these events.

This actor, who also has the movie “Fossil” on the screen, about his assessment of the current state of the cinema, which is completely dominated by comedy movies, and whether he was also encouraged to make a comedy movie? He said: Comedy films sell more because of people’s need for laughter and a happy mood, but the point is that among comedy films, only some films succeed in selling if their creators are better known. For example, in the field of children’s cinema, I almost know that every film I make will sell five to six billion tomans because families have seen my previous films and know my work style, so they usually go to watch with their children. In the comedy cinema, except for a few films like “Dynamite”, “Infradi” and “Fossil”, the others could not return their production money, and I think the authorities should be aware that they should not be happy about the current sales of “Fossil” in these few months. and put it in the general account of cinema because maybe cinema authorities believe that when “Fossil” has sold more than 180 billion tomans, then the situation of cinema is good, while they should not use this sales figure as a ruler for the prosperity of cinema from Consider management. “Fossil” was a private film that was able to sell, while the film “Gharib”, which I liked very much and the production cost of which is now 30 billion tomans, could not be successful at the box office.

Hashemi continued: “Cinema is not in normal condition and one of the most important reasons is the issue of ticket prices.” These days, the price of a chewing gum is higher than the price of a cinema ticket, that is, whatever you touch, its price has increased 10 times, while the increase in the price of a cinema ticket was much less than these. Some people say that if cinema tickets become expensive, people will not go to the cinema. If this is the case, then why are theaters sold well with tickets for 350 and 700 thousand tomans and concerts for 800 thousand tomans?

Stating that the state of the cinema is in a bad state and it should be saved, he said: In the current situation, I have no possibility to make a movie, especially since the expenses for the post-production stages of the movie “City of Cats 2” are about one billion tomans and even that much money. I don’t want to release it. Does anyone understand what the concept of return of capital in cinema means and what problems we are facing? The same movie “City of Cats 2” has been waiting for a screening permit for a long time to be fully in accordance with the Ministry of Guidance. They introduced flaws into the film that were strange for a children’s film. Of course, my films are in such a way that families can also watch them, but it is strange to object to the content from various political and economic aspects. The question arose for me, don’t the authorities realize that in the last four years in the field of children’s cinema, they sold only five films and the others did not even return their production costs?

He added: If this situation continues, only government films will remain, and if children like such products, they would watch the same TV. The fact is that the type of view prevailing in government agencies for making films in children’s cinema does not have the necessary features to attract the audience. I myself had a project called “The City of Donkeys” that I presented to the Farabi Foundation, but they told me to make a film about children with cancer instead.

Javad Hashemi, who is currently acting in Mohammad Hossein Mahdovian’s “Zakhm Kari 2” series, said at the end of this interview about his new acting projects: “Besides “Zakhm Kari”, I have also worked on the “Investigator” series, but I don’t like acting very much at the moment. And to make a living, I sometimes have to act because I was hurt a lot by being a producer in the cinema. Of course, I have to take a lot of care in choosing a role in addition to trying to break taboos.