one of six such filmmakers arrested several weeks ago for selling films to the BBC, says he did so because he couldn’t otherwise make enough money working in Iran.
He told the Fars news agency that the cumbersome state bureaucracy makes it difficult to get enough work to keep body and soul together.
In a letter to Fars entitled “Why I sold my film rights to the evil BBC Persian?” Mirzai mentions financial need, the “unfair” responses of Iranian cultural officials, and lack of job security.
A total ban on film sales to foreign TV networks was imposed after the September 17 arrest of the six documentary filmmakers who were accused of “collaboration” with BBC Persian.
Mirzai wrote sarcastically, “No doubt the evil channel of BBC Persian is making the best use of this shortcoming in our cultural management and tries to attract young talents through purchasing the rights to their film screenings.
“When a young filmmaker spends many years waiting to receive a trivial budget to make a film, it is natural that he goes after the foreign networks.”
The letter continues, “Before I decided to sell some of my films to BBC Persian, I had negotiated with several centers like Iran’s Experimental and Documentary Film Center (EDFC), the Iranian Young Cinema Society (IYCS) and several Iranian TV channels. But my proposals were rejected after several months of waiting.
“When I sold the films to BBC Persian, no statement or announcement had been issued to say it is illegal to sell a documentary to BBC Persian and even Sadeq Saba, BBC’s Iranian affairs analyst, had produced a series of documentaries with the help of Iranian documentarians for BBC Persian.
“The broadcast of this program from BBC Persian made me and my other colleagues feel that our activities are legal and airing non-political films would not create problems,” Mirzai wrote.
Moreover, the letter continues, “When I was informed two years ago that the Intelligence Ministry had banned any collaboration with BBC Persian, I undertook not to collaborate with the channel but still faced many obstacles in the course of my film productions.
“Is it fair to ignore a person who has produced over 2,000 minutes of programs on Iranian mosques and several issues related to the Iran-Iraq war, and not to forgive him for the unintentional mistake he had committed,” concludes the letter.