A Festival Without 'Taboo': Masoumi's Account of His Film's Exclusion from Fajr Festival

The announcement of the accepted films for the competition section of the 33rd Fajr Film Festival has sparked new discussions in Iranian cinema, as expected. Among the names of the films in the competition section, the works of several well-known filmmakers are notably absent, leading to significant controversies regarding film acceptance in the second festival held under Hassan Rouhani's administration. Films such as 'I Want' by Bahman Farmanara, 'Absolute Rest' by Abdolreza Kahani, 'Amber Whale' directed by Saman Moghadam, 'Delta X' directed by Alireza Amini, and 'Taboo' by Khosrow Masoumi are not included in the final list of accepted works, prompting a flurry of speculation about the reasons for their exclusion. Recently, members of the festival selection committee have stated in various interviews that the absence of certain films is due to a greater emphasis on the works of younger filmmakers, claiming that films by older filmmakers will be shown outside of the competition section. This approach has faced backlash from several filmmakers who were not accepted into the festival. One of these filmmakers, Khosrow Masoumi, the creator of 'Taboo', expressed that such reasoning is unacceptable to him: 'I don't even know why this has happened, but some friends who have realized their films are not in the competition are somewhat upset and dissatisfied with this policy. Because cinema is an art in which filmmakers become more mature based on experience day by day. If I am to think that at 60 years old, or my friend thinks that at 70 he can no longer make films because he has become a veteran or that young people should be given opportunities, my feeling as a filmmaker is that this theory is wrong. Moreover, in the competition section where 22 films have been selected, some friends are older than I am. If the idea is that veterans should step aside for young filmmakers to be showcased, I truly do not understand the presence of those friends in the competition section.' The exclusion of certain films from the festival has led to speculation that following recent events preventing the screening of some Iranian cinematic productions by entities outside the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, cinema managers intend to hold a less controversial festival and not give new excuses to their opponents. Khosrow Masoumi does not find such reasoning sufficient for not screening his film: 'I do not like the thought that officials, even in Mr. Rouhani's moderate government, want to seek comfort in front of those who say they have not seen any films but comment on cinema. I do not know about my film, but were these films set aside due to censorship? When I spoke with the festival secretary, his explanation was that no censorship had been conducted on any film, but I read in the newspapers that censorship had been applied to Mr. Kahani's film. Because Mr. Kahani even conducted this censorship, yet his film was still not included in the competition section. It will become clearer to us why our film is not in the competition section once the festival is held and we see the competition films and compare them with our own films, without anyone explaining it to us.' At the same time, it has been stated that the screening of some films excluded from the festival is conditional upon making changes to them. Khosrow Masoumi, whose previous film 'Bear' has also yet to be publicly screened, rejects the necessity of making changes to his film, stating that no amendments have been made to 'Bear' either, and that film has not been screened solely based on recommendations: 'No amendments have been made, and nothing has been communicated to me. Even regarding 'Bear', no amendments have been made. They just said that the controversies surrounding 'Bear' during Mr. Ahmadinejad's administration have heightened sensitivities regarding the screening of this film, which is why they said it would be better for 'Bear' not to be screened for now, and we agreed.' With less than a month remaining until the Fajr Film Festival, speculation continues not only about the excluded films but also about the quality of the accepted films. According to the announced list, the 33rd Fajr Film Festival will showcase new films from filmmakers such as Behrouz Afkhami, Kamal Tabrizi, Masoud Jafari Jozani, Farzad Motamen, Abolhasan Davoodi, Alireza Reisiān, and Bahram Tavakoli.