The wife, who wears a nightgown and a discovered hair, lies next to her husband in bed. Older man and woman, drunk on red wine, dancing wildly and talking about the complexities of sex and nudity at their age. In the trouble of a young woman, she moves to the sexual progress of a male employer in an interview with work.
These scenes can be done simply by ordinary life clips on a large screen. But their existence – in three Iranian films published in the last few years – is nothing extraordinary, which represents a new era of film in Iranian cinema.
These films and trend that represent received recognition and recognition at international. One of them, “Holy Fig seeds,” wrote and directed by Mohammad RasoulofThey will compete for the best international feature film at the Academy awards on Sunday.
Mr. Rasoulof, 52, is among the numerous distinguished Iranian directors and artists undergoing government rules on censorship that have been spent for almost five decades since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. These rules prohibit the views of women without hijab, alcohol consumption and men and women who touch and dance; They also prevent movies to deal with taboo topics like sex.
In a collective act of civic disobedience and inspired 2022. The uprising under the guidance of women in Iran And many women are continuous defiance of restrictive social law, Iranian filmmakers say they have decided to finally make an art that imitates real life in their country.
“The Movement for Women-Little Freedom was the main point in the Iranian cinema,” said Mr. Rasoulof, speaking of protests that were transferred all over the country after a young woman died in police custody while detained for violating the mandatory rules of hijab.
“Many people, including filmmakers and artists in cinema, wanted to break up the chains of censorship and practice artistic freedom,” Mr. Rasoulof said in a telephone interview from Berlin, where he now lives in exile.
Mr. Rasoulof’s A thriller drama follows a fictional judge for Iran Islamic Revolutionary Court Face the rebellion of his teenage daughters who turn against him as these protests break out.
The Judge’s family drama serves as a metaphor for a bigger struggle that still continues in Iran, years after the government has brutally abolished protests. Many women still defy the rule of hijab, appearing in public without covering their hair and body, and young people clearly show – Dance in public spaces or through their choice of music and clothing – that their lifestyle is very different from those of their religiously conservative rulers.
Mr. Rasoulof made a movie without the necessary approval and licensing of the Government, and made it secret. Like all bold Iranian films made under the ground in the last few years, the “Holy Fig seeds” could not be published in Iran and instead was distributed internationally. He competes in Oscars as a nominee from Germany, who co -produced him.
Mr. Rasoulof escaped in May, only Days before the premiere of the film at the Cannes Film Festivaland after being sentenced to eight years in prison and swallowed on charges related to his political activism and art. He was previously in prison for eight months in 2022.
Iranian revolutionary court has opened a new criminal case against Mr. Rasoulof, his acting lineup and some members of his crew, accusing that the film is threatening Iranian national security and expanding rudeness. But he said that everyone involved agreed that the risk was worth it.
Most of the main members of the film left Iran, apart from the leading actress, Soheil Golestani, who is the only one who is still in the country personally confronted with the trial.
“For me, it was more than acting in the movie,” said Mrs. Golestana, 44, an interview from Tehran. “Something like social responsibility. And of course, presenting a true picture of a female character who never had the opportunity to appear on the screen. “
Risks are increased for actresses. Simply release of hair in public or in front of the camera means violation of the law. But numerous famous actresses have announced that they will no longer wear hijabs in movies, a view that risks limiting their casting capabilities and the wrath of the Government is formed. Forced some into exile.
Vishka Asayesh, a 52-year-old favorite movie star, left Iran in the summer of 2023. After winning with intelligence agents for her support for protests.
“There was enough, the adherence to the rules felt like the betrayal of my fans and all young people bravely protest,” he said Mrs. Asayesh, who now lives in New York. “This was my way of participating in a change for change.”
The struggle between artistic expression and government control continues. New hit Iranian television series, “Tasian”, set in the early 1970s during the reign of ShahHe was abruptly canceled last week and is forbidden to streaming platforms because his female characters showed their hair (actresses wore wigs) and danced and saws in nightclubs. The director of the show Tina Pakravan defied the authorities by being available on YouTube for free on Friday. He lives in Iran.
“Why should an artist who should be a mirror of his society are forced to emigrate just because he reflects the desired paintings of his people?” Mrs. Pakravan said in a telephone conversation from Tehran.
International Coalition for Filmists at risk, which defends artistic freedom and security, Organized a petition recently signed by more than 100 prominent figures in the global film industry for two Iranian filmmakers, a married couple, Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeh, who face criminal prosecution related to their critically esteemed movie “My Favorite Cake.”
“My favorite cake” Explores the topic in a bold way not seen in the Iranian cinema since the revolution. A man and a woman, in the 70s and burdened with loneliness, spend a improvised romantic night together. They drink wine, dance and talk about sex and their uncertainty about removing the bare ones. In one scene, the leading actress, Lili Farhadpour, sprayed the perfume under the skirt, expecting sexual intimacy.
“It was time to show the real life of a large part of Iranian society – the way they go through their days, they love and act,” said Mrs. Moghadam, 52, in a telephone conversation from Tehran.
She and her husband wrote the script two years before the protests led by women who catalyzed so many other directors. Their film has been shown worldwide since then and has won 17 international awards, including the jury award at the Berlin International Film Festival and a newly -shared competition at the Chicago International Film Festival.
Like Mr. Rasoulof, they also face accusations related to national security and expanding rudeness in a revolutionary court that could result in prison years, and are banned from leaving the country, working or teaching, they said. Their first trial date is Saturday.
Mr. Sanaeh said that he hoped that the attention of the Academy’s awards on Mr. Rasoulof’s film would result in more support of independent Iranian filmmakers and that the Academy would change their rules that demand that international films nominated the government of the country where they were produced. The rule, he said, effectively excludes a new wave of revolutionary Iranian films.
“Every filmmaker dreams of making films in his country,” Mr. Sunnah said. “We have never seen our movie on a big screen in the theater or with an audience.”
Leily Nikounazar contribute to reporting.
