Ali Rafiei's Memory of Reza Qotbi When He Became the Director of City Theater at His Request

Ali Rafiei, a renowned playwright, director, actor, and designer in theater and cinema, has exclusively shared this note about Reza Qotbi with Radio Farda. Qotbi, who was the head of the National Radio and Television of Iran for many years until the 1979 Revolution, passed away in Paris at the age of 86 on September 5. The first time I returned to Iran after years of studying in France, Zahra Kazemi invited me for a video interview. At that time, I was still a young confederate* and my insistence on political-social positions during the conversation caused the interview to be cut off during its broadcast on national television. Additionally, my assistance for Peter Brook's play, which was being prepared for the Shiraz Arts Festival, was also canceled upon my arrival in Shiraz, as neither I nor Mr. Qotbi, who was then at the head of the Shiraz Arts Festival, was willing to compromise on our political-social positions, and ultimately, I returned to France after eight months of being banned from leaving. Once again, when I came to Iran to teach in the Department of Theater at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Ms. Fooladvand from Mr. Qotbi's office contacted me and said he wanted to meet with me in person for an important matter. In the meeting I had with Mr. Qotbi, he said he had been thinking about me for several days and questioned how he could not utilize my abilities in the past. Today, I invited you to say that I have concluded that I do not know anyone better than you to lead the City Theater, and I hope you accept my proposal and contribute to the advancement of the country's theater. In that moment, I thought to myself that this is the same Qotbi from a few years ago. I immediately concluded that yes, Qotbi's development-oriented, modern, and responsible managerial perspective had allowed him to set aside past political differences. I told Mr. Qotbi that if my proposed program was approved by him, I would have no problem accepting this position. I sent him my program, and he confirmed it, stating that he was fully committed to its execution. Our collaboration began, and gradually I realized that Qotbi was an honest, precise, serious, and responsible manager, and almost all my requests in the form of letters and aligned with both short-term and long-term goals were promptly addressed by him. Qotbi's decisions and actions were independent of personal positions or familial ties with Farah Diba. His main priority was always to achieve the results of the work and the concerns of his specialized managers. I have rarely seen managers like Qotbi even today. During my three-year presidency at the City Theater, aside from the internal architecture of the City Theater building, no obstacles stood in the way of my goals, and most of my visions were realized. During my collaboration with Reza Qotbi, achievements included establishing specialized workshops for set and costume design, a library and rehearsal hall for the theater complex, restoring the original identity of the City Theater as the most important theater in the country, collaborating with the capitals of four African countries which subsequently led to the formation of dance, theater, and music festivals, significantly increasing the salaries of theater groups and staff of the City Theater complex, and creating additional motivation for young theater artists to collaborate with the City Theater complex, among other achievements. Qotbi rarely physically attended gatherings and was more focused on responsibly completing assigned tasks from a distance to bring them to fruition in the best possible way. Perhaps I had differences of opinion with his views on radio and television productions at the time or did not fully agree with his political perspective, but I cannot deny his independent character, effective outlook, seriousness in work, and responsible performance in his management style. I will always praise the personality and managerial characteristics of Reza Qotbi and their impacts on the culture and art of the country. My collaboration with Reza Qotbi ended with my resignation from the presidency of the City Theater and his appreciation of my performance.