In a letter sent to Raisi on Saturday, the Iranian House of Cinema wrote, “We urge a meeting with your excellency to emphasize the honor of Iranian cinema in a fair atmosphere.”
“Are you aware of what difficulties the Iranian cinema as a medium is facing in order to reflect the people’s voice and image?
“The recent actions of your colleagues have challenged the welfare and, above all, the job security among the cineastes.
“We face the unanswered questions of who behind the scenes is trying to prevent the art and culture community, especially filmmakers, from feeling relief, and who is seeking to extend a variance in the cultural authority.
“We urge the rule of law without any one-sided interpretation.”
This letter is in response to the Tehran Public and Revolutionary Court’s decision last week to remove director Kianush Ayyari’s controversial movie The Paternal House from theaters across the country, while the movie had obtained all necessary licensing for screening from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.
In a statement the court had declared, “The film contains scenes insulting the Iranian people’s religious beliefs, promoting violence against women, undermining the perfect Iranian-Islamic traditions and culture, and representing a false and distorted image of the Iranian family.”
The culture ministry previously had banned The Paternal House ten years ago due to allegedly violent scenes, but the movie was released about ten days ago after Ayyari made some modifications to it.
However, the court claimed that no modifications had been made to the movie and “all the culprits will be prosecuted.”
Source: Tehran Times