Iran`s Majlis compromises on “Laleh” film project

TEHRAN,Oct.13(MNA) -- Iran’s Majlis compromised on making “Laleh”, a film about the first Iranian female race car driver Laleh Seddiq, which is being supported by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, and its relevant organizations. “The Majlis Cultural Committee is in agreement with making ‘Laleh’, providing they consider the views of the committee members about the screenplay of the film,” a committee member Ali Motahhari told the Persian service of the Mehr New Agency on Friday. However, he said that the committee’s complaint about the background of Asadollah Niknejad, the director of the project, still remains. The MP’s had raised objection to the film project allegedly over “the feministic tendencies in the film and its patriarchal image of Iranian society with ceaseless fighting between man and woman.” They had also criticized the Culture Ministry’s decision to select U.S.-based Iranian filmmaker Niknejad to helm the project due to his background in providing services to some Hollywood productions. “As the representative from the Cultural Committee, I read the screenplay of the film and expressed my views to the committee… We also expressed our views to the relevant officials in the Culture Ministry and they promised to correct the deficiencies,” Motahhari said. The Cultural Committee had previously threatened to impeach the culture minister over the ministry’s plan for making “Laleh”, which has been estimated to cost about 70 billion rials (about $2.5 million). This project is scheduled to be financed by the Culture Ministry, and U.S. and Canadian companies, which will join in the project due to their close relationships with Niknejad.