Berlinale steps up the pressure on Iran over filmmakers (Feature)

By Andrew McCathie Feb 19, 2011, 22:01 GMT

Berlin - The Berlin Film Festival - one of the world's A-list film festivals - stepped up the pressure Saturday on Iran over its treatment of the nation's movie makers.

Iranian director Asghar Farhadi's Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (Nader And Simin, A Separation) scooped up a string of top prizes at the Berlin Film Festival Saturday, becoming the first Iranian film to win the prestigious Golden Bear for best motion picture.

Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick told the German Press Agency dpa that the jury decision was 'forceful and courageous.' He also expressed the hope that Iran would be proud of the film's winning so many awards.

Nader az Simin's success in Berlin and its compelling observation of Iran's multi-layered life has turned the 38-year-old Farhadi into a new force in contemporary cinema.

'There is a battle going on,' Farhadi said at a press conference marking the film's screening in Berlin this week. 'There is a struggle between a class that is poor and religious and the other class that wants to live with more modern rules.'

His movie also comes at time when the oppression of moviemakers in Iran has led to Tehran's becoming a target of film festivals around the world.

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

Farhadi also wrote the script and produced the film, which was one of 16 movies competing for the Golden Bear.

In an extraordinary move, the festival jury headed by American-Italian actress Isabella Rossellini also handed out the best actor and actresses awards to the entire male and female cast of Farhadi's film.

Speaking after receiving the award, Peyman Moadi, who played the husband Nader in the movie said with regard to the situation in Iran that 'filmmaking can make difference.'

Also speaking following the presentation of the award, Babak Karimi, who plays a judge in the movie said: 'In the worst situation, it is the job of the artist to do the best job possible.'

Dubbed the Iranian Berlinale, the festival has sought to throw the spotlight on the enormous difficulties faced by filmmakers in Iran following the sentencing last year to six years in prison of the renowned Iranian director Jafar Panahi.

He was also banned from filmmaking for the next 20 years on charges of working against Iran's ruling system.

The 50-year Panahi was invited to be a member of this year's Berlinale jury and the festival opened ten days ago on an emotional note when Rossellini read out a letter from Panahi, who is appealing his sentence.

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

Last year the Cannes Film Festival also asked Panahi to join its jury, but he was unable to attend also because he was in prison.

This came after he was detained by Iranian authorities amid reports that he was making a film about the controversial 2009 presidential election, which saw Mahmoud Ahmadinejad returned to power.

Production of Nader az Simin 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.

But then 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 Ahmadinejad's win in 2009.

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.'

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 also screened several of his movies.

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