Objection to closure of IHC spices up film press conference

TEHRAN,Feb.7(MNA) -- A press conference for “Kissing the Moon-Like Face”, an Iranian drama that premiered at the Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran on Sunday, was jazzed up by its director’s remarks challenging the Culture Ministry’s decision to disband the Iranian House of Cinema (IHC). “I should tell the managers who ordered the Iranian House of Cinema to disband that the history of the current events will not be written by officials,” Homayun Asadian lamented. “Next year, these are the actors and filmmakers who will attend the festival, not the officials of the present Iranian cinema. “Maybe, these friends (managers of the Culture Ministry) would take up a position in the sports ministry or will be appointed to a sport team, but the decision about the House of Cinema and all its consequences will be registered in the history of the country.” Asadian also criticized the officials of the ministry for disregarding the honor Asghar Farhadi’s “A Separation” won at the Golden Globe Awards. Asadian also criticized the officials of the Culture Ministry for disregarding the fact that Asghar Farhadi’s “A Separation” won a Golden Globe Award. The audience, most of them journalists and film critics, applauded Asadian’s remarks. Last December, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance ordered the dissolution of the Iranian House of Cinema, which was the guild of independent Iranian cineastes. The Culture Ministry, which is the main organizer of the Fajr International Film Festival, is striving to keep the event away from any sensitive issues. The organizers have said that certain foreign media are trying to make the Iranian cineastes boycott the event due to the shutdown of the IHC. Meanwhile, an Iranian member of the festival’s jury for the international competition issued a statement on Monday, lamenting over the dissolution of the IHC. “I have a problem with the dissolution of the IHC and its poor treatment,” actor/director Dariush Farhang said. Due to the Culture Ministry’s decision to close the IHC, he said that he turned the idea over in his mind for a long time before finally agreeing to accept the invitation to be a member of the jury.