Iranian film overcomes hurdles to reach Berlin festival (Feature)

By Andrew McCathie Feb 15, 2011, 13:46 GMT

Berlin - Iranian director Asghar Farhadi faced a long and arduous road to bring his latest movie to the Berlin Film Festival on Tuesday.

Production of the film, Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (Nader And Simin, A Separation), was halted in Iran last year after Farhadi publicly expressed the hope that exiled Iranian filmmakers be allowed to return home.

Farhadi was only granted permission to continue filming after assuring the authorities that his comments should not be seen as political or ideological criticism.

Then again, making a movie in Iran has never been easy, with filmmakers having to navigate their way around a series of bureaucratic and ideological obstacles before gaining the necessary official approval to bring their projects to life.

Filmmakers say the process has become much worse since the June 2009 presidential poll, which sparked claims of fraud and triggered mass protests against the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Many Iranian filmmakers have decided the best way to pursue their profession is to leave the country. In Iran, officials talk about critical films in terms of 'cultural treason.'

The oppression of moviemakers in Iran has led to Tehran becoming a target of film festivals around the world.

The renowned Iranian director Jafar Panahi was invited to be a member of this year's Berlin Film Festival jury.

But the 50-year-old Panahi was sentenced to six years in prison in December and banned from filmmaking for the next 20 years on charges of working against Iran's ruling system.

Speaking at a press conference marking the international premiere of his film in Berlin, Farhadi paid tribute to Panahi.

'I think that no director in the world has not felt sorry and sadness given this event,' Farhadi said. 'I said goodbye to him before I came here, to a place he could not go to.'

The international launch of Farhadi's new film came amid a fresh wave of protests in Tehran, triggered by pro-democracy demonstrations in Egypt and Tunisia that toppled those countries' leaders.

Jodaeiye Nader az Simin is one of 16 movies competing for Berlin's coveted Golden Bear for best film.

Starring Leila Hatami and Shahab Hosseini, it is the story of a couple whose lives begin to spin out control after a court rejects their divorce. Farhadi also wrote the script and produced the film.

His portrayal of daily life in Iran underscores the separation between men and women into different spheres, as well as the class system that has emerged in the country.

'There is a battle going on,' Farhadi said. 'There is a struggle between a class that is poor and religious and the other class that wants to live with more modern rules. There is a clash in our society.'

But in shedding light on Iran's multi-faceted society, Farhardi also raises questions about moral standards as the pace of modernization in the country gains momentum.

'It's a crisis of human beings nowadays,' he said. 'Moral standards can no longer be directly applied ... People are looking for different standards.'

Jodaeiye Nader az Simin marks a return to Berlin for Farhadi. In 2009, his movie About Elly won a Silver Bear for best director.

Altogether four Iranian films have been selected to be screened in different sections of this year's Berlin Film Festival, known as the Berlinale.

As a sign of solidarity with Panahi, the festival is also screening several of his movies.

In an emotional moment during its gala opening last Thursday, the jury president, Italian-born actress Isabella Rossellini, read out a letter from Panahi, who is at present waiting for the result of an appeal of his sentence.

'So from now on, and for the next 20 years, I'm forced to be silent,' Panahi wrote.

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