Crisis in Directors Society

Iranian Directors Society is an influential component of the House of Cinema. Almost all Iranian directors are its members and managing director of House of Cinema is usually one of them. On the other hand, the Society has remained influential as it stays away from controversies. Directors Society has been seldom scene of a major crisis during about 30 years which have passed since the establishment of House of Cinema. Alireza Raeisian, the seasoned Iranian filmmaker was heading the Society for 12 years and did his best to turn it into an independent entity. He has been the most lasting manager of a cinema guild in House of Cinema and has been able to get the highest votes during various voting sessions. The new term of Raeisian was accompanied with a strange turn of events.

Home Video Network

Up to almost a decade ago, old Iranian and foreign films was the only thing which was supplied through home video network, which were offered on CDs. People were not willing to watch them as they had been produced years ago and their choice was not interesting to film buffs. Publicity for the network was so unremarkable that people mostly ignored such products. The situation was the same until Visual Media Institute came into being to take charge of distributing films through a totally new process. This allowed for more Iranian and foreign films to enter the network and publicity became more orderly. Since three years ago, they bought licenses for distributing feature films as their public screening ended and those films went into people’s homes on CDs or DVDs shortly after public screening.

Dubbing Day

Dubbing is an important component of the Iranian cinema. Since many decades ago, foreign films were dubbed into Persian and moviegoers were very painstaking about quality of dubbing. Perhaps, this is why dubbing is more prosperous in Iran than other countries. Since mid-1980s when on-the-set sound recording became vogue, few films were dubbed for movie theaters, but foreign films are still dubbed before presented in video clubs on CDs or DVDs. The state television also dubs foreign films and series and there is a special unit for dubbing films in television where most experienced dubbing artists are working.

Jafar Panahi Released

Although the sole film representing Iran in the latest edition of Cannes Film Festival was Abbas Kiarostami's "Certified Copy", what happened to another Iranian director, Jafar Panahi, became such controversial as to overshadow the whole festival. Javad Shameqdari, deputy minister of culture, who was present in Cannes, talked with its president, Gilles Jacob, on various issues. The text of their negotiations, which was later published by Iran, was refused by Jacob and since no reporter or cameraman attended their meeting, none of the two sides could easily prove what the main subject of their talks had been.

Majid Majidi’s New Film about Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)

Following production of an costly television series on Prophet Joseph and after Ahmad Reza Darvish started to make a film on Ashura (the day Imam Hossein was martyred), Majid Majidi is now the third Iranian director to have indicated his willingness to make a film about a saint. His project can be the most controversial as it is about the life of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). No such film has been ever made about the character of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and Moustapha Akkad’s The Message did not depict the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). Majidi’s latest work, Song of the Sparrows, was made three years ago and won best actor prize of Berlin Film Festival. Majidi broke the news about his new film after receiving Ibn Arabi medal in Murcia, Spain.