Continued Silence of Filmmakers in the Elections: An Interview with Mohammad Ali Talebi

The second round of Iran's presidential elections and the relative intensification of competition between the two final candidates did not significantly affect the participation of filmmakers. Aside from the presence of a few producers and directors at a group discussion program with Masoud Pezeshkian and a statement from the Producers Association requesting participation in the elections, as well as some supportive posts on Instagram from a number of filmmakers active in the official stream, no serious actions from filmmakers were observed just two days before the elections. These events continued a trend seen during the first round of elections. Meanwhile, filmmakers were among the most significant groups participating in electoral competitions for about two decades from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s. Mohammad Ali Talebi, a well-known filmmaker of post-revolutionary Iranian cinema, in an interview with "Sahneh" of Radio Farda, reflects on the historical political participation of Iranian filmmakers in various elections: "When the revolution occurred, we wanted to participate and have a role in the changes happening in the country. At the time of the revolution, we were not aware and not much awareness was given to us. We did not know what was happening in a country like the Soviet Union at that time. What the leftist movement meant. What communism meant. And we were drawn into certain atmospheres. I myself did not participate in the elections where they said 98 percent said yes, but later I voted for Mohammad Khatami on the second of Khordad. I also voted for Mir Hossein Mousavi but did not vote later." Mr. Talebi, who has been active since the 1980s with popular films such as "Finish Line" and "City of Mice" and the widely viewed series "Gol Pamchal," and later in the 1990s with films like "Boot," "Tick-Tock," and "Rice Bag," discusses the clear support of filmmakers in various decades for candidates associated with the reformist movement in different elections: "If that movement had progressed and the desired reforms had been realized, it might have been said that the atmosphere had changed. Filmmakers were attracted as well. I think it was not a mistake at that time. Of course, I had friends who would come each time and get involved in these atmospheres, which were of various groups. One group was looking to surf the wave to achieve certain things, to obtain budgets and facilities." In response to a question about the resistances against the desired changes of the reformists in the country, Mr. Talebi says: "This bipolarity definitely existed. I remember very well the events that occurred at the Children and Young Adults Film Festival in Isfahan. A group would come in front of Abbasi Hotel, where domestic and foreign guests stayed, and the festival cinemas, chanting against the festival and praying. This atmosphere has existed since the beginning of the Islamic Republic and has continued. The director of films such as "Wind and Dust," "You are Free," and "The Wall" refers to the cyclical repetition of this trend throughout the past years and mentions filmmakers who resisted from the beginning of the revolution and did not want to work within this structure. However, Mohammad Ali Talebi states: "Those who remained, in one way or another, brought Iranian cinema to a certain point and made it prominent." He dismisses any influence of the government in this flourishing, emphasizing the importance of the work of filmmakers: "These filmmakers blossomed this cinema with pain and hardship, and this will remain in history." Regarding the continued silence of filmmakers about the fourteenth presidential election, even in its second round, he raises the question, "How many times must one go down a path and see it does not lead to results?" He points to the limitations and confrontations in recent years with filmmakers, especially after the protests of 2022: "Filmmakers look and see all their colleagues have become unemployed. Women filmmakers have been expelled from cinema for a headscarf. Even producers from the Revolutionary Guards, whose films could have gone to Cannes, were sidelined." He expresses doubt about the accuracy of the figures presented regarding participation in the first round of the presidential elections: "This is the same old game."