Strong Protest from Filmmakers Against Yalasarat

Mani Haghighi, a director and actor, announced that he, Asghar Farhadi, and Taraneh Alidoosti will file a complaint against the Yalasarat publication for its "insult" towards them, stating, "We would be happy if the Minister of Culture and the Head of the Judiciary come to our aid." According to IRNA, this director and actor mentioned during the 10th Critics and Writers Festival of Iranian Cinema on Sunday evening, September 28, that many filmmakers and people have "consoled us in various ways" following the "insult" from Yalasarat. He described the publication's article about himself and the two other filmmakers as "trash writing" and added that "the main motivation for reacting to such content is that the three of us, and certainly all of you, are not willing to live in a country where its culture is criticized under the shadow of bullying and violence." Yalasarat recently published an article titled "How the Dirty Tsunami of Sexual Cherries Came to Cinema?!" telling a story about a love triangle involving two male filmmakers named "Farhad" and "Ghobad" and a female actress named "Shahrzad." The characteristics provided for these characters closely resemble the artistic activities of Asghar Farhadi, Mani Haghighi, and Taraneh Alidoosti. Following the publication of this article, Taraneh Alidoosti, actress of the film The Salesman, indirectly referenced it on her Twitter account by sharing a photo of Asghar Farhadi and Mani Haghighi, writing: "Since the night my brother left this world, until the day my daughter was born, you have been by my side. As long as I live, you are my family and my dear ones, in ups and downs. So; let the sun not rise for our tomorrow if it is a burden on us." Meanwhile, Ebrahim Hatamikia, another Iranian filmmaker, also reacted at the 10th Critics and Writers Festival, stating that if Yalasarat does not apologize or if no one reacts, it would be "indifference." He emphasized: "I am sorry to live in a country where such games are played with the blood of Hussein. I have not been spared from this magazine even when it had only one page." In recent days, a group of conservative journalists also criticized Yalasarat in a letter and called for the Judiciary to take action against the publication. Arash Fahim, the cinema manager of Kayhan newspaper, is among the signatories of this letter. Yalasarat has also attacked Farhadi's film The Salesman several times in recent weeks. In one of its recent issues, the magazine harshly criticized the film, its director, and its actors in an article titled "We Will Sell Honor with The Salesman; How Much is the Nakedness of the Hafez Festival?" The magazine also published the entire story of The Salesman while its screening in Iran was still ongoing, which some websites, including Tabnak, referred to as "an unprecedented event in the history of journalism." Yalasarat was suspended on Tuesday, August 2, due to an article titled "Who is the Deceitful?" about the Hafez Cinema Festival, but was republished two days later by a ruling from the Judiciary. Yalasarat is a publication affiliated with the Ansar Hezbollah group, which supports the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. This magazine has been suspended several times by the Iranian Press Supervisory Board and has resumed publication by court order. In recent years, publications that have had their licenses revoked by the Press Supervisory Board have typically been permanently banned from publication. In this context, the Iranian Actors Guild has called for judicial action against Yalasarat, and the House of Cinema condemned Yalasarat's insult to artists. Despite the suspension order from the Press Supervisory Board, Yalasarat was published again on Wednesday. The spokesperson for the Ministry of Culture stated that the renewed publication of Yalasarat was done by a ruling from the Judiciary. The Deputy Speaker of Parliament criticized the renewed publication of Yalasarat, and the Tehran prosecutor announced that the prosecutor's office would take action regarding the Hafez Festival.