Cinema Etemad, Reza Kianian: National Cinema Day has passed. I felt sick and wanted to hurt my heart.
Iranian cinema is about 130 years old. Once upon a time, international festivals, if they did not have an Iranian film, must have been missing something. The flag of Iranian cinema was raised in all the cultural centers of the world. The first Iranian film called “Haj Agha Actor Cinema” can still be seen and enjoyed. Both before and after the revolution, this flag was raised until just a few years ago. Iran is one of the countries whose international awards are skyrocketing.
But for several years now, due to the change in the taste of the Ministry of Guidance, Iranian cinema has not been as prosperous as it used to be. The censor blade of the previous government did not allow the making of social films. He isolated Iran’s proud directors and tried to change people’s taste with government orders.
He made commercial comedies or promotional films. Just look at the front of the cinemas and see the placards. Almost all are the same. Sometimes you can even put the name of this one on the other. In the last few years, the Ministry of Culture and “Arshad” is proud that the sales of films have increased. He says the same about light comedies. I will never say that these films should not be made. I say that all kinds of films should be made. All tastes need to see their own movie. When only one taste has power, it can put other tastes into coma.
But he forgets that as all tastes pay taxes, they have the right to have their own kind of cinema. The taste of the previous government wanted to make everyone the same. This story started from the time of the miracle of the third millennium. He turned the cinema deputy into an organization. to control all the cinema. That famous sentence still rings in my ears. “We pay for it and tell you what to do!” Since then, Iranian cinema has become more and more limited. They closed the cinema house, created parallel order guilds to divide and weaken the cinema guilds. Of course, a movie theater was opened a few years later.
But until it came to life, with this ministry of culture and “guidance” that it was, it turned again to the same heel of the miracle of the third millennium. A few days ago, it was the National Day of Cinema Without Cinema; When everyone is told to dress the same way, that dress is no longer a dress, it is a prison. But those sitting on the chair always forget that they are flowing water. They come and go, but the cinema is empty. It comes and never leaves; will stay
No government in history has been able to stifle or homogenize art forever. The most powerful one was the Socialist Soviet Union with that thick-necked Sibyl man. where are they They are gone! We are all going; But art never goes away. Because with the birth of each child, he is reborn, he is created again, he resumes his creativity. Art is as long as man, it is permanent.
Now another minister has come, the minister of national unity. We, who belong to the rigs at the bottom of the atmosphere, are waiting to see what he will do. Does he care about the reputation of our proud cinema or not? Does he turn the door to the same heel as the previous jacket or not? I remembered a sentence from the movie “Red Ribbon”. “Today is the day of Mubahlah, Mr. Dawood…” Let’s see what the Minister of National Unity will do. So I say, “Today is a good day, Mr. Salehi!”