cinema trust Zahra Nora Najafi wrote in Etemad newspaper: Can old Iranian stories promote Iranian animation cinema? This is a question that we can think about after watching the animated film “Shangul Mongol” which has been shown on Iranian cinema screens these days.
“Shengul Mongol” is the third animated movie by Dalvand brothers from the beautiful city of Borujerd, and the creators of movie animations in Iran, that too in the private sector, know very well what difficulties and troubles it is to reach the “third” movie production in a field like movie animation. The problem is not only the funding or the long time of making the animation, it is the profitability of the produced work. Producers can’t limit their hopes only to domestic release in order to make a profit. This is why the animation that was released in Iran in November 1403, two years ago, was first shown in China, then in Russia, Turkey and… maybe not, it is definitely for this reason that the general atmosphere of the story “Shangul Mongol” It reminds us more of the land of China, not our own Iran, or the newspaper that Shangul and Mongol’s father is holding is similar to the New York Times with English writings, not Farsi!
Critics may say that the Iranian child who is surrounded by the best dubbed foreign animations and these days knows Christmas, Halloween, etc. better than Yalda Night, Nowruz Eid, etc., what is wrong with this work that only has famous Iranian voice actors. Is he going to learn from being Iranian?! But what the critics or sympathizers of Iranian culture don’t know is that the Dalvand brothers’ studio in Borujerd has achieved the ability to achieve a work after the unsuccessful screenings of the animated films “Rostam and Sohrab” about the Shahnameh and “Nasur” about the Karbala event. can show it in several countries before Iran and find box office. This work does not tell an Iranian story, nor a religious one.
As you know, “Shengul and Mongol” is based on the old legend “The Wolf and the Seven Goats” from the Grimm brothers’ collection of tales. Of course, in the Persian version of this legend, it has been changed and instead of seven goats, we have three goats with the names of Shangul, Mangol and Hebe Angoor. However, from the point of view of the Iranian producer, choosing a universal story has been a guarantee for the global sales of the work.
In addition to this issue, the issue of decentralization from Tehran has been the focus of Sadr first officials in recent years. That people don’t have to migrate to Tehran for any reason, and now it’s the animation industry that has shown that, unlike many art fields that can only develop seriously in Tehran, animation can also be developed in cities like Borujerd, Kerman and Mashhad. Produced and exported. These days, when the nascent foundation of animation in the cinema organization is being formed, this issue can be very important.
To be honest, I don’t think there is any Iranian who would not like these old Iranian stories to promote our cinema, whether live cinema or animation, in the world, but we can be narrators of our own stories when we can start from the first levels of Maslow’s pyramid of needs. to pass Our survival As long as Iranian producers cannot pass this stage, how can they think of promoting Iranian animation cinema with Iranian stories?!
Journalist and animation activist