Screening of the Film 'I'm Not Angry' Canceled Despite Issuance of Screening Permit

The Display Guild Council announced that the screening of the film 'I'm Not Angry' has been postponed to an unspecified time. This council had previously announced that the film would be screened in Iranian cinemas starting Wednesday, December 20. The Display Guild Council is the planning and supervising body for film screenings in Iran, operating under the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. Gholamreza Faraji, the spokesperson for this council, stated in an interview with the Fars News Agency on Tuesday that the 'congestion of films currently being screened' was the reason for the cancellation of 'I'm Not Angry'. This comes despite him having confirmed the film's screening just a week prior. 'I'm Not Angry' is one of the controversial works of recent years in Iranian cinema, facing difficulties in obtaining a screening permit since its production. The film, directed by Reza Dormishian and starring Navid Mohammadzadeh and Baran Kosari, tells the story of a star student who is expelled from university and seeks 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 Fajr Film Festival in 2013, 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, opposition to its content, especially from figures and media close to conservatives, has been expressed. They assess this film as supporting what they call the 'sedition' and oppose its screening. These oppositions led to the film being excluded from the jury at the Fajr Festival in 2013 and to multiple delays in its screening until now. This summer, Reza Salehi Amiri, the former Minister of Culture in Iran, asked the Iranian Cinema Organization to clarify the status of some films that have been banned in recent years. Following this directive, Ebrahim Darughazadeh, the Deputy for Supervision and Evaluation of the Cinema Organization, announced on September 15 in an interview with the state-run IRIB News Agency that 12 banned films were reviewed by a committee formed by the Minister of Culture's order, and among them, the directors and producers of five films accepted the committee's proposed amendments. 'I'm Not Angry' was one of the films that, according to Mr. Darughazadeh, was allowed to be screened after changes were made. Despite the issuance of a screening permit for 'I'm Not Angry', opposition to its screening continued. Notably, Nasrollah Pejmanfar, a conservative member of parliament, reported a week ago in an interview that, according to Abbas Salehi, the Minister of Culture, this film would not be screened. Although these statements were denied by the Ministry of Culture, as the screening date approached, the intensity of the opposition increased. For instance, the Student Basij of Imam Sadiq University warned in a letter to the Ministry of Culture on Sunday, December 17, that if the film were screened, there would be consequences. The issue of the Ministry of Culture retreating from its issued permits has been one of the main criticisms from artists in various fields against the government of Hassan Rouhani in recent years. Abbas Salehi, the Minister of Culture in Rouhani's second government, had stated that defending the Ministry's permits was among his programs when seeking a vote of confidence.