Why did “Maslaht” and its advertisements get sidelined?

Charso Press: The movie “Maslehat” which was directed by Hossein Darabi and produced by Mohammad Reza Shefah was released on June 17 and has sold nearly five billion tomans. This film, which is a joint product of Oj media-art organization and art field, was able to get a permission to release it after three years of Kesh Vaqus. The film narrates the story of Ayatollah Meshkatian as one of the high-ranking officials of the judiciary, whose son commits murder in a street fight in the 60s, and it is in the interest of those around Ayatollah not to blame his son.

Mohammad Reza Shafa gave explanations about the film’s sensitivities and the decision to release it online.

The producer of “Maslehat”, who has a history of making the films “Hanas” and “Seeing this film is a crime” and seems to be interested in inflammatory subjects, said in this context: When we, as artists, decide to do something, we will choose topics and subjects that are part of our concerns on the one hand, and on the other hand, are also considered to be the concerns of an important part of society. Then we find the season of sharing that concern with people’s words and their views to finally end up producing a work of art. The works in which I participated as a producer were part of my concerns, and of course the director and writers of the work, because in our opinion, they are important issues that the capacity to pay attention to and address them still exists. Therefore, we tried to express and portray what we have in mind in the best possible way according to our ability. Of course, I imagine at least In the movie “Maslahat” there are not so many strange words. There is no harsh word in it. The sensitivity of the words that many people and officials of the country say today in private and public meetings is more than the movie “Maslaht”. Therefore, we did not expect and do not have any strange sensitivity towards the theme of this movie. After all, every film may be faced with different interpretations by different people, but these opinions should not lead to closing the way for other useful opinions and interpretations that are made about the film.

He also said about the three years when the movie “Parvaneh” was not screened and it was in a kind of detention: From the very first moment that we realized that the judiciary does not have a positive opinion about the film’s release, we started our negotiations with them. We tried to solve the problem of the film, but this matter needed time. In any case, it was necessary to consider enough time for negotiation and presentation of explanations. In order to reach an understanding, it was necessary to talk to all those who are concerned with the film and to convince them that the film can be allowed to be screened. There was a need for this understanding so that the film would not be damaged and there would be a consensus so that it could be screened. The reason why it took three years was partly due to negotiations and partly because the judiciary, as a body that has the ability to keep films under suspension, decided not to allow the release. This also fueled the prolongation of the film’s ban.

Shafaha explained about reforms and audits: First, we fully identified those parts that we felt were sensitive from the point of view of the judiciary, and during the negotiation, we made suggestions to eliminate or diminish the issues that caused sensitivity with minimal changes. Therefore, the changes are very few and the audience, even those who have seen the film at the festival, may not notice these changes. Even after watching the movie, they asked us where the movie was changed.

He said about the fact that a film like “Maslehat” had problems for screening, even though it was the product of two government institutions, namely the Organization of Highness and the Art Department. It is true that these conditions bring depreciation and cause depression and discouragement, but these things do not apply to us. We will continue our efforts because in any case such issues are sensitive. We hope that a day will come when the license of the Cinema Organization and the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance will be respected by everyone as the legal authority for issuing screening and production permits; Especially for those who are more responsible than the law.

He continued: Currently, this issue will exist until the day when the licenses of the Cinema Organization and the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance are revised or reviewed by other organizations and institutions in our country. In the meantime and considering these conditions, we are trying to depict the concerns we think are correct with minimal problems, issues and obstacles in the best possible way.

Shafa said about the film’s advertisements and some of its sidelines: We believe that creating creativity in advertisements and seeing environmental advertisements differently can have a direct effect on the visibility of the film, but this issue is also one of those points that can cause misunderstanding until everyone gets involved. Because everyone is used to seeing the movie advertisement in the same classic way that exists in custom. We tried to be a leader in this field, act differently and increase the attractiveness of work. I imagine that they should have been patient, which was not the case for this film in any way. What about the name of this movie, which was “Mishlat Nizam” and they didn’t let it stay on it? What a three-year suspension, which was banned after the screening in the festival. If all the films of the festival that year were released to the public. Even in the case of advertisements, there was no patience to do it correctly and completely, because this idea caused a debate among people, and when they realized that it was an advertisement for a movie, they were encouraged to watch it. This is a natural and well-known process that everyone knows about in the science of advertising. Unfortunately, additional and perhaps unnecessary worries and sensitivities cause that there is not enough patience in this field.

He also said about the release status of his film: The screening conditions are good. If the release of the film continues in the same way and does not face any new challenges, I think we will have an acceptable release in the end, because a good capacity of the cinemas in the art field has been provided to “Maslehat” as one of the two groups of investors of the project, and in the cinemas Privately, we also have good screenings and I hope that this trend will continue and this undisputed competition of comedy films will not cause the screening of social films to be lost under the pretext of comedy films being bestsellers.

He added: Since we managed to watch the movie with many audiences, the feedback was very good, even in the situation that the movie is sensitive and has complications.

In response to whether Shafah will release the film online immediately after it is released in theaters? said: It depends on the screening conditions. This may happen and we may come to the conclusion that after a period of a few months we will have an online release, but for the time being we cannot predict in this field and everything depends on the reception and the events that happen to the film. It happens in cinemas to decide.