Iran: Peaceful Movement to Boycott Fajr Film Festival

The Babylon and Beyond blog at the Los Angeles Times has an interesting look at the Tehran film festival.  The Fajr Film Festival is widely toted as the largest cinematic event of the year in Iran.  The festival, established following the Iranian Revolution in 1979, has in recent years attracted the attention of the international community, including filmmakers and screenwriters from around the globe.

Babylon and Beyond reports that the highly anticipated 2010 film festival has experienced a boycott for political reasons, called for by opposition leaders. Prominent Iranian actor Ezzattolla Entzami and director Asghar Farhadi have both turned down offers to sit on the festival’s jury panel as a show of support for the opposition movement. The article notes that British directors Ken Loach and Peter Brook also supported the boycott by refusing to participate in the festival. Loach commented, “It is the request, first and foremost, from the Iranian filmmakers that makes you think and makes you want to support them.” Loach cemented his position, sending a letter to the Islamic Republic, informing them of his withdrawl from the festival and the reasoning behind his decision.

The boycott is largely a grassroots movement, organized online through blogs, facebook, and twitter, and is in response to the government’s violent treatment of its citizens and questions surrounding the legitimacy of the current president.

While the boycott has gained a foothold in the media, success is threatened by the opportunity presented to some artists by the boycott. Golab P. in an a post for Tehran Bureau reports that noted director Ebrahim Hatamikiya opted to participate in the film festival when restrictions placed on his film,  “The Color Purple,” were lifted.  The film had been banned from being viewed at the festival for the past five years.  Other, younger artists, were given an opportunity to participate that may not have materialized for many years otherwise.  In Golab’s article, younger artists argue that showing films that had been previously banned was a positive for the opposition.