From Iranian film expert Jamsheed Akrami. Akrami says:
Jafar Panahiâs films, The Circle, Crimson Gold, and Offside, have been all banned in Iran and for the past four years he has not been allowed to make a new movie. Now I guess he is also barred from touching a camera in the confines of his own house. As you know heâs been barred from leaving the country as well when his passport was confiscated last fall.
As is obvious, the Iranian people rarely keep quiet about such injustices, even under immense pressure and strain. The regime is losing its grip, and these strong-arm tactics are indicative of how weakened their position is. It’s a very touchy regime, and they do not like the sense that the world is watching them. It’s uncomfortable, isn’t it, when enlightened people don’t let you oppress your own people without telling you you basically suck. The situation is quite serious, and I am hopeful as well that Panahi will soon be released (it’s too much of a spotlight right now to be endured, the regime is feeling that pressure, which is good), but that does not change Panahi’s dilemma as an artist, whose hands have been tied by his own country. He cannot make his art, he cannot travel, he cannot do anything. The election of this past year (the subject of the film he was making illegally, apparently) caused a blow-up in the population of extraordinary power (similar to the student protests a couple years back), and the repression has been strong in the aftermath of those events. Newspapers, journalists, intellectuals, student activists – all have felt the lash of reprisal. Panahi is one of many. But he is an important symbol, a high-profile one, beloved by the hated West, and it’s one of those situations where the fact that the one you are trying to repress is so loved and supported elsewhere – becomes intolerable. Vaclav Havel felt a similar strange dynamic – prison time in his own land, fame in the rest of the world. Regimes are RIGHT to be frightened of their writers and artists. But still: it’s a tense time. I hope he is released soon.
This is terrible. I was just commenting when I reviewed Majid Majidi’s The Song of Sparrows that I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bad Iranian film that managed to be shown in the U.S. and The Circle was included in that group.
Edward – I certainly haven’t either. Offside is one of my favorite movies, period, and certainly was the highlight of that year for me.
The Iranians make some awesome films – even the more maudlin soap opera-y ones (the recent Fireworks Wednesday comes to mind) have something really real and gritty about them. Unexpected. There is a beautiful tension there.
And nothing is better than when an Iranian director gets overtly political – as Panahi always does (most obviously in The Circle). It’s just breathtaking.
I keep scouring film sites and Iran film sites for updates on his status. But what next for him? They are basically not allowing him to work. At all. It’s infuriating.