With Ai Weiwei still missing in action, and dozens of other government undesirables, such as activists and rights lawyers also disappearing, it’s no wonder that the director of the Songzhuang Documentary Film Festival got cold feet.
Zhu Rikun told Chinese rag, The Global Times, that they had canceled the event, which was scheduled for early next month, because: “The overall situation was tense, and we had received a lot of pressure. We worried that the films to be shown would meet some problems in this environment and decided to cancel it.”
He did not elaborate on the referred to pressures.
UNCUT got in touch with an independent filmmaker who was planning on attending the festival. He asked us not to use his name.
“Although I had a feeling that it would be cancelled, I was still surprised when they actually did it,” he said, expressing disappointment.
I think it’s down to ideology. They don’t like people with diverging viewpoints coming together and watching these kinds of films. And neither do they want to let those people who have diverging viewpoints express their ideas.
The Global Times went on to cite an organizer for the festival as saying none of the films that were due to be shown were sensitive and most of them had already been shown at a festival in southern China in March this year.
This would have been the eighth incarnation of the festival which was started in 2003. It is held in the outskirts of Beijing in an artists’ district, a popular haunt for “sensitive” events.
The China Gay and Lesbian Film Festival is hoping to show a season of films in June. It remains to be seen if they will feel confident enough to go ahead.
Index on Censorship calls on Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani, head of the judiciary in Iran, to overturn the sentences handed down this week to the film directors Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof. Jafar Panahi was sentenced this week to six years in prison for “colluding in the gathering and making of propaganda against the regime”. He is also banned from making films, writing scripts, travelling abroad and talking to the media for 20 years. Mohammad Rasoulof also received a prison sentence of six years.
In a letter to Ayatollah Larijani, Index on Censorship’s chief executive John Kampfner says:
We would like to remind you that Iran’s own constitution guarantees the right to freedom of expression, the essential condition for any artist to engage in their work and enjoy the freedom to create. We therefore ask you to guarantee this most fundamental of human rights to Mr Panahi, Mr Rasoulof and all artists, academics and journalists currently facing similar sentences.
Index on Censorship urges the Iranian government to recognise Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof as ambassadors for Iran’s creative culture, instead of treating them as criminals. “The Islamic Republic’s continuing crackdown on artists, journalists and writers can only harm the future of its people,” writes John Kampfner in his letter.
Jafar Panahi is amongst Iran’s leading film directors. His first film The White Balloon won the Camera d’Or at the Cannes film festival in 1995 and he was awarded the Golden Lion in 2000 for his film The Circle.
Speaking in support of Jafar Panahi, documentary filmmaker Kim Longinotto says:
Jafar Panahi has been an inspiration for me and my friends for many years. His poetic, sensitive and gripping films tell complex stories with well-rounded characters that he treats with great affection and respect. His films never tell us what to think, or give easy answers — they allow us to discover things for ourselves. He gives me hope for a future where men and women can truly identify with one another’s experiences.
State censors in Lebanon have asked Beirut International Film Festival not to show an Iranian opposition film during a visit from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Originally scheduled for screening on 13 October, the day of Ahmadinejad’s arrival, the film “Green Days” documents violent protests in Iran following last year’s disputed elections. Director Hana Makhamalbaf is the daughter of Mohsen Makhamalbaf, who is close to opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi.
Iranian authorities have revoked the filming permit of an internationally acclaimed director over his support for dissident filmmakers. Asghar Ferhadi, who won the award for best director at the Berlin festival in 2009, called for change at a recent Iranian awards ceremony. He spoke out in favour of actress Golshifteh Farahani, and directors Jafar Panahi, who spent three months in jail, and Mohsen Makhmalbaf, who supports the opposition Green Movement. Deputy Culture Minister Javad Shamaqdari described Ferhadi’s comments as “inappropriate”. He said that the director was given a week to change his remarks.
