02 EDITORIAL 2/8/11 9:16 PM Page 2
EDITORIAL CINEASTE
The Suppression of
Contemporary Iranian Cinema
I
n early 2011, as the world watches televised
mass protests and political upheavals in
Tunisia, Jordan, and Egypt, we should not
overlook the less visible but ongoing repressive
practices of Irans theocratic regime, which
have intensified since the reelection of Presi-
dent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009.
Tens of thousands of supporters of Mir Hussein
Mousavis opposition Green Movement took to
the streets of Tehran afterward, protesting the
rigged election (which leaked Ministry of Interior
reports confirmed Mousavi had actually won).
Since that controversial contest, Ahmadine-
jads government has been even more ruthless
in silencing dissident voices within the country.
Hundreds of protestors were detained and
dozens have been sentenced to death. In
December 2010 it put on trial filmmakers
Mohammad Rasoulof and Jafar Panahi, who
were collaborating on a new film about family
life in Iran after the disputed elections, and
which, according to Panahis attorney, was con-
sidered propaganda against the system. Each
was sentenced to six years imprisonment, and
prohibited for the next twenty years from mak-
ing films, writing scripts, traveling abroad, or
giving interviews to domestic or foreign media.
The ruling is currently being appealed but its
likely that Panahi, in particular, who has been
arrested and imprisoned numerous times previ-
ously, and who has a reputation for not yielding
to government persecution, may end up in jail
again.
Such draconian measures against Irans
leading filmmakers reveal the governments
efforts to eradicate an independent and critical
cinema. One of Irans most acclaimed filmmak-
ers, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, who also served as a
spokesman for Mousavi, is now living in exile
in Paris. Palme dOr winner Abbas Kiarostamis
latest film, Certified Copy, was filmed in Tus-
cany, and the director spends less and less time
in Iran. Iranian filmmakers have always treaded
a fine line in trying to express themselves within
a strict system of censorship. Films must pro-
mote pro-Islamic values, women must be cov-
ered, and physical contact between unmarried
male and female actors is forbidden. Scripts
must meet government approval and much of
the Iranian cinema that is familiar to interna-
tional audiences is officially banned in Iran.
Even with all of these obstacles to free
expression, Panahi has created a tough-minded,
politically engaged cinema. His first features,
The White Balloon (1995) and The Mirror
(1997), used child actors, simple stories, and a
neorealist style to comment on the relative
powerlessness of women in Iranian society.
With The Circle (2000), Panahi became less
metaphoric, squarely pointing his camera at
adult women, exposing the harsh realities of
prostitution, abortion rights, and the paternal-
istic rules that make women completely depen-
dent on men in order to have a political voice.
2 CINEASTE, Spring 2011
In Crimson Gold (2003), Panahi reveals a bifur-
Founder and Editor-in-Chief
GARY CROWDUS
cated Tehran, where the wealthy secretly live
opulent, decadent lives while the impoverished
Editors
majority is subject to the governments harshest RAHUL HAMID
strictures. Rasoulofs 2005 feature, The Iron CYNTHIA LUCIA
Island, tells the story of an isolated community RICHARD PORTON
living on an abandoned oil tanker in the middle
of the sea, ruled by an all-powerful captain. Consulting Editor
This inventive film satirizes Irans isolated posi- DAN GEORGAKAS
tion in the world community and the strange
social mores engendered by isolation and totali- Contributing Editors
tarian rule. ROY GRUNDMANN
Many leading international film festivals LEONARD QUART
have already expressed outrage at these harsh ROBERT SKLAR
sentences by paying tribute to the directors and DENNIS WEST
screening their work. Major filmmakers and
critics, including Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone, Assistant Editor
Roger Ebert, Francis Ford Coppola, and Steven JOE MARGOLIS
Spielberg, among others, have also publicly Editorial Interns
voiced their protest. Cineaste readers who wish
AMELIA J. BYRNES
to join them may sign an on-line petition on
behalf of Rasoulof and Panahi available at DIANA WADE
www.petitiononline.com/FJP2310/petition.html Associates
For those not satisfied merely with signing a ROBERT CASHILL
petition, however, The Cine Foundation Inter- THOMAS DOHERTY
national offers a more novel way to protest such
JOHN HILL
artistic censorship and violation of human
rights. Their White Meadows Web and ANDREW HORTON
Smartphone application (named after a film by ADRIAN MARTIN
Rasoulof), at http://cinefoundation.org/white- LOUIS MENASHE
meadows, enables one to record a short video MARTHA P. NOCHIMSON
statement about Panahi and Rasoulof. In a JARED RAPFOGEL
related effort, the foundation has announced a JONATHAN ROSENBAUM
campaign of protest films, entitled For Jafar DEBORAH YOUNG
Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof, which will
include six commissioned feature-length films Production Assistance
and twenty short films, examining a global VICKI ROBINSON
relationship to ideas of nation, self, other, iden-
Advertising Representative
tity, material culture, spiritual culture, impris-
BARBARA SALTZ
onment, censorship, regime, protest and
6 University Drive, Suite 206, PMB 161
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The ruling mullahs and other repressive Amherst, Massachusetts 01002
Phone (212) 366-5720  Fax (413) 230-3367
forces in the Islamic Republic clearly feel threat-
ened by the power of cinema, but they are not Manufactured and Printed in
immune to international protests and diplo- the United States of America
matic pressures. Even if Panahi escapes the
term of imprisonment, however, a twenty-year Cineaste (ISSN 0009-7004) is published quarterly at
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would constitute an even harsher punishment. (212) 366-5720, web address www.cineaste.com,
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As he explained, When a filmmaker does not address: P.O. Box 2242, New York, NY 10009-8917.
make films, it is as if he is jailed. Even when he All articles represent views of their authors and not
is freed from the small jail, he finds himself necessarily those of the editors. Copyright 2011
wandering in a larger jail. by Cineaste Publishers, Inc. Indexed in Inter-
Panahi is also perfectly aware that the sen- national Index to Film/Television Periodicals, Art
tence is directed not only against him, but also Index and Film Literature Index. For permission to
against Iranian cinema in general. In his defense photocopy material from Cineaste, write Copyright
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You are putting not only us on trial but the www.copyright.com. Microfilm editions of Cineaste
socially conscious, humanistic, and artistic Iranian are available from Bell & Howell Information and
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beyond good and evil, a cinema that does not A full-text edition of Cineaste is available online
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to honestly reflect a realistic image of the society. www.il.proquest.com. This issue published in
It is precisely for that reason that govern- March 2011. Publication of Cineaste is made
possible, in part, with public funds from the New
ment suppression of art and artists cannot be
York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency.
allowed to stand.The Editors