In a move that signifies the tightening grip of Iran’s hardliners on every facet of society, the Culture Ministry accused the House of Cinema of making changes in its charter that were not approved by the Public Culture Council.
The House of Cinema was founded nearly 20 years ago and has about 5,000 members, acting as the umbrella organization for a range of guilds of artists and professionals working in the Iranian film industry. The House of Cinema is the only nongovernmental organization that supports independent filmmakers, thus often putting itself at odds with the government.
The ministry filed a lawsuit against the House of Cinema in December, but did not wait until the scheduled January 11 hearing, saying a hearing was not necessary because the organization did not have a valid operating license to begin with. The ministry issued the order to close the organization before the hearing.
A government-appointed committee will replace the House of Cinema as the governing body of the film industry.
The ministry’s order sparked an uproar among Iranian film professionals. Twenty organizations including the guilds of actors, directors, screenwriters and editors issued a joint statement denouncing the move and asserting that the House of Cinema was well within its legal operating rights.
The House of Cinema’s managing director, Mohammad-Mehdi Asgharpur, deemed the shutdown order illegal, saying only a court order could close it. In protest, the House of Cinema’s governing committee has been threatening to boycott the Fajr Film Festival, Iran’s largest film event held annually during the revolution anniversary celebrations in the first 10 days of February.
It is unclear if the governing committee is planning to pursue further legal action, but human rights activists have joined the film professionals in their support of the House of Cinema.
Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi wrote an open letter to the United Nations denouncing the action of the Culture Ministry as a violation of human rights.
Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the New York-based International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, called on the Iranian Judiciary to invalidate the Culture Ministry’s orders. Ghaemi further added that the ministry’s action “shows that the authorities do not hesitate to use any means necessary to bring associations in line.”
Some of Iranian cinema’s luminaries also took individual stands against the ministry’s order. Asghar Farhadi, director of the Golden Globe-winning film “Nader and Simin: A Separation,” wrote an open letter to the ministry.
“If the decision to dissolve the House of Cinema is based on the idea that the majority of the film community and members of the guilds are in agreement with your method, then I suggest you take a vote on this decision among the few thousand members of the House of Cinema,” his letter said, according to the daily Sharq.
But the Culture Ministry is also under fire from another source, one quite distinct from the usual liberal activist crowd.
Conservative Deputy Ahmad Tavakkoli, director of the Majlis Research Center, criticized the ministry for the closure order, and said it was orchestrated by President Ahmadi-nejad to score some political points ahead of the Majlis elections in March.
“There is another likely scenario in which the Culture Ministry pretends that it wants to close down the House of Cinema, but then Ahmadi-nejad intervenes as a savior and saves it,” he was quoted as saying.