June — Defending cinema in Iran

In June of 2007 people affiliated with the film community in Iran gathered to defend their rights. A statement emerged that was signed by many filmmakers, writers, and actors.

The primary reason for the gathering was to protest bootlegging and instances of massive copyright violations. It was not unusual for films to be released into the black market prior to an official screening. In a specific case, the editor’s cut of a film submitted to the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance for licensing was copied and leaked into the black market. The film was eventually screened publicly with a number of modifications. It did not do well at the box-office success since the uncensored version had already made a splash in Iran’s huge underground film market. (http://www.hamshahrionline.ir/news-24577.aspx)

Incidents such as the one described above, caused many in the film industry to suspect an organized effort by some elements within the government to paralyze the national cinema industry in Iran. (http://www.hamshahrionline.ir/news-24577.aspx and http://www.hamshahrionline.ir/news-23428.aspx)

Film producer and screenwriter Mohamd Hossein Farahbakhsh went as far as to call on the Ministry of Intelligence to track down the source of the bootlegging, “In my opinion this whole thing goes beyond mere Mafia-like gangs. Only in this way will the problem be resolved seriously, once and for all. In fact, if there are any hidden hands involved here, they should be identified.”

(http://www.hamshahrionline.ir/news-27251.aspx)

Photos of the event can be found here: http://www.hamshahrionline.ir/news-24632.aspx