The Iranian authorities closed the Iranian House of Cinema in Tehran,
whose task was to promote national cinema, RIA Novosti reports
referring to the Daily Telegraph.
The activities of the House of Cinema provoked the dissatisfaction of
the Ministry of Culture in 2009, when it invited a Hollywood
delegation to Tehran and then sent a
group of Iranian filmmakers to Los Angeles for a return visit.
The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance
has repeatedly stated that Hollywood is a tool of U.S. propaganda
and cooperation with it is not welcomed.
The most notorious case in the cinema was organized against the
director Jafar Panahi, winner of the film festivals in Cannes, Venice
and Berlin. In May 2010 he was arrested along with his colleague
Mohammad Rasoulof; after public appeals the director was
temporarily released on bail, but six months later was not only
sentenced to imprisonment for six years but banned from making films
for the next 20 years, as well as from writing scripts, communicating
with journalists and leaving the country. In anticipation of the
verdict of the Court of Appeal, Panahi made a movie about his life
"It's Not a Film" (In film nist), which was shown in Cannes. However,
a petition signed by Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Robert De
Niro, the Coen brothers, Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone and dozens of
other directors had no effect on the judges: the verdict of Panahi
was left in place, and only Rasoulof got a reduction of his term of
imprisonment.
From now on, Iranian cinema will be guided by the Ministry of Culture.
However, the representatives of the House of Cinema believe that this
decision is illegal.
"The House of Cinema is registered as a non-governmental organization, and
as such can only be dissolved by a court order or a decree of the Congress
members. Even the president has no power to dissolve the House of
Cinema," the executive director, Mohammad-Mehdi Asgarpur, told
Iranian news agency Nasimonline.
