20 May 2010
Bob Tourtellotte
Reuters
CANNES: Iranian film director Abbas Kiarostami said Tuesday his government’s imprisonment of colleague Jafar Panahi is “intolerable,” and that filmmakers and art in general are under attack in his country.
Debuting his “Copie Conforme” (“Certified Copy”) in competition at the Cannes film festival, Kiarostami said that for decades independent filmmakers in Iran have faced obstacles created by a state seeking to control their work.
“The fact that a filmmaker has been imprisoned is, in itself, intolerable,” Kiarostami said at a festival news conference, through an interpreter. “Jafar Panahi was inclined to make his film under clandestine, illegal circumstances, but that’s not his responsibility alone. The responsibility is that of the authorities who prevent him from carrying out his profession.
“So when a filmmaker – an artist – is imprisoned,” Kiarostami added, “it is art as a whole which is attacked, and it is against this that we should react.”
Panahi, who has made films that examine social issues in the Islamic Republic, was a supporter of Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi in last year’s disputed election.
On March 1, Panahi and family members (and a number of other Iranian filmmakers) were held by Iranian security guards at his hoe. Since then Panahi has been in prison. Officials have confirmed the arrest but said it was not politically motivated. Reports have said he was making an anti-government film which Panahi’s son has denied.
“If the Iranian government continues to refuse to release Jafar – if Jafar remains in jail – then at least we need explanations,” Kiarostami said.
“Because I don’t understand how a film can be considered to be a crime, particularly when a film has not been made.”
Prominent filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and others have petitioned for Panahi’s release.
French government ministers also asked that he be freed so that he could attend the Cannes festival.
Panahi won the Camera d’Or prize at the Cannes for his 1995 movie “White Balloon,” and was invited to sit on the 2010 film jury.
On Sunday, a report on Mousavi’s website said Iranian security officers went to Panahi’s house and threatened his family members with arrest if they spoke to the media. Indeed, as his Cannes film festival news conference began, Kiarostami said he had been asked to call Panahi’s wife in Tehran, but was unable to get through.
One reporter asked Kiarostami about speculation that Panahi was on a hunger strike. He could not confirm such a protest.
Talk of a hunger strike caused Juliette Binoche, a professional actress and star of “Copie Conforme” who was sitting next to Kiarostami, to tear-up.
“The Iranian government has been trying to create obstacles which are placed in the way of independent filmmakers,” he said. “That is a situation we have had to live with for 40 years.”
“Copie Conforme” is not likely to create a controversy within any government. Set in Italy, this enigmatic tale depicts an encounter between a British writer (William Shimell) and a French art dealer (Binoche), who initially seem to be mere acquaintances but, it is later revealed, may be married.
In fact, it is never clear if they are a couple, and the movie challenges audiences to decide if their marital status – whether real or a copy of reality – is even important to how we judge them as people. “The value of a human being,” Kiarostami said, “depends very much on how you look at it.” – With agencies
Copyright The Daily Star 2010.
