Minister of Culture: I am not influenced by media pressure or representatives

The Minister of Culture of the Islamic Republic emphasized during the National Cinema Day celebration held on Thursday night that he does not make decisions under pressure from parliamentary representatives and the media, but at the same time, he must pay attention to "legal and social constraints." According to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA), Ali Jannati, the Minister of Culture, also urged Iranian filmmakers to consider the "social and religious consequences" of their works. Jannati stressed that he has received two yellow cards from parliamentary representatives and that a third card is on the way due to the film "Stories," but nonetheless, this film "should have been screened." The Minister stated, "I am neither influenced by media pressure nor by the statements of parliamentary representatives. We think and examine based on legal frameworks and relevant regulations, and ultimately we act on what we conclude." He added, "Some filmmakers sometimes mention that a film is banned due to objections from a representative, whereas this is not the case." Jannati's remarks come at a time when the screening of films such as "House of Father," "I Am Not Angry," and "Lovely Trash" has been halted due to objections from parliamentary representatives since his tenure began. Meanwhile, the film "Resurrection," directed by Ahmadreza Darvish, was supposed to be screened starting Wednesday, July 15, but was pulled from the screen after only a few showings. The main issue for opponents of "Resurrection" relates to the depiction of Abbas ibn Ali, the brother of the third Imam of Shia Muslims, during the event of Karbala, and some Shia clerics, including Ayatollah Wahid Khorasani, Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi, Ayatollah Alavi Gorgani, and Ayatollah Subhani, have deemed the depiction of the faces of Shia Imams and their children unacceptable. Meanwhile, the Minister of Culture announced that he would provide "sufficient explanations" to Ahmadreza Darvish, the director of "Resurrection," in a meeting on Saturday. He referred to the opinions of religious authorities regarding this film and added, "You have to understand that we respect the jurisprudential views of the authorities because our country is a religious one." Jannati emphasized that the Ministry of Culture must pay attention to "social and religious consequences" and urged filmmakers to consider such issues. He added, "Our overall approach is to support all filmmakers, but at times when we have legal and social constraints, we must also pay attention to these constraints." Conservative representatives in the Iranian parliament have repeatedly criticized the policies of the Ministry of Culture under President Hassan Rouhani and have issued yellow cards to Jannati twice. Meanwhile, Zahra Teybnia, a representative from Tehran, was not satisfied with Jannati's explanations in the Cultural Commission of the parliament regarding the screening of "Stories" directed by Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami and demanded that Jannati provide his explanations in the open parliament.