120 Filmmakers Request Public Screening of 'I'm Not Angry' from Rouhani

In an open letter to Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, 120 filmmakers have called for the public screening of the film 'I'm Not Angry' by Reza Dormishian, criticizing that the film has not been allowed to be screened despite having received 'five screening permits and undergoing various censorships.' The authors of the letter stated that the screening of this film has been prevented 'after receiving five screening permits and undergoing various censorships, and even the approval of the review committee for confiscated works and written guarantees from officials.' The letter addressed to the Iranian President mentions that 'this time, under the pretext of new censorships according to the opinion of your Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance,' the screening of 'I'm Not Angry' has been obstructed. These 120 cinema professionals added that 'the discrediting of screening permits and repeated censorships creates an atmosphere of insecurity in the cinema field and violates the rights of artists.' For this reason, they have requested Rouhani to issue 'a favorable order for the public screening of I'm Not Angry.' The letter has been signed by notable figures such as Afsaneh Bayegan, Mahtab Nasirpour, Dariush Mehrjui, Masoud Kimiai, Kianoush Ayari, Kamal Bozoria, Kiumars Pourahmad, Fereydoun Jirani, Siros Alvand, Narges Abyar, Mani Haqiqi, Monijeh Hekmat, Baran Kowsari, Mahnaz Afshar, Alireza Khamseh, Habib Rezaei, Farhad Aslani, Vishka Asayesh, Mahtab Karamati, Hanieh Tosili, and Pantea Bahram. On February 15, Reza Dormishian also criticized the prevention of his film's screening in a letter to Rouhani. Dormishian wrote to Rouhani: 'I am the same filmmaker who, on the night of the 32nd Fajr Film Festival, was forced by officials to withdraw from receiving awards for my film, 'I'm Not Angry,' so that your government would not be harmed by pressure groups.' He added that he has voted for 'Hope and Prudence' twice, 'but has become infinitely disappointed,' and although five years have passed since the making of his film, it remains 'in limbo and is prevented from being screened each time under some pretext.' This filmmaker asked Rouhani: 'In a situation where you constantly speak of the right to question, the right to criticize, the right to protest, and the right to citizenship, should I still have to cut my film into pieces after numerous instances of censorship?' He wrote to the Iranian President: 'I and other independent filmmakers are longing for the realization of your electoral slogans regarding art and your perspective on cinema. The atmosphere of insecurity in the field of culture and art is not befitting of Iranian cinema.' A day after this letter, it was reported that three members of the Cultural Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly held two separate meetings with the Deputy Minister of Cinema and Reza Dormishian to discuss the 'obstacles' to the screening of 'I'm Not Angry.' According to Fatemeh Zolghadr, one of the members of this commission, 'the Deputy Minister of Cinema of the Ministry of Culture again requested the removal of another five minutes from the final version of this film to facilitate its screening.' She stated that Mohammad Mahdi Heydarian said that the Minister of Culture 'has the authority to request amendments for a film that has a screening permit.' She added that 'according to Mr. Heydarian, he promised to screen the film on February 14 on the condition of making amendments, but the director of the film says that such discussions never took place and these points are new.' This parliament member also quoted Dormishian as saying that 'the film has undergone censorship four or five times, and there is no possibility of removing other scenes as this volume of censorship is an insult to the audience.' Tayebeh Siawoshi, another member of the Cultural Commission, also stated that Reza Dormishian 'is not willing to make further amendments, and our negotiations in this regard are still ongoing.' Meanwhile, Gholamreza Kateb, a member of the parliamentary board, has asked the director of 'I'm Not Angry' to 'make the necessary amendments to meet the Ministry of Culture's requirements and facilitate the screening of his film.' 'I'm Not Angry' is one of the controversial works of recent years in Iranian cinema that has faced difficulties in obtaining a screening permit since its production. This film, made in 2013, stars Navid Mohammadzadeh and Baran Kowsari. The film tells the story of a star student who has been expelled from university and is looking for a suitable job to convince the father of his beloved to agree to their marriage. In the initial version of this film, which was screened at the 2014 Fajr Film Festival, alongside the main storyline, there were references to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's promises during his presidency, the situation of expelled students, and some political events of those years. Since then, there have been objections to its content, especially from figures and media close to conservatives. They evaluate this film as supporting what they call 'sedition' and oppose its screening. These objections led to the film being excluded from the awards at the 2014 Fajr Festival and the repeated postponement of its screening. Baran Kowsari, the actress of this film, also wrote on February 17, after the repeated halt of 'I'm Not Angry's' screening, that 'besides the Ministry of Culture, do films have to survive the scrutiny of several institutions and organizations to be seen?' She added: 'I'm Not Angry, with a permit and screening license and the signatures of all relevant officials, still was not screened; this means that in some places, their power is even greater than the law. This means utter despair...'