How banned Iranian film directors attended Berlinale premiere in Germany

Admin I Friday, Feb. 16, 2024

 

BERLIN – Iranian film directors Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha, who have been banned by their country from traveling to the Berlin International Film Festival, nonetheless delivered a message at the festival on Friday.

The pair’s film “Keyke mahboobe man” (“My Favorite Cake”) made its international premiere on Friday as part of the Berlinale competition, even though the directors were prohibited by the Iranian regime from attending.

But actress Lily Farhadpour read a statement from Moghaddam and Sanaeeha in Berlin in which the filmmakers decried the “restrictive rules” and “red lines” imposed on the film industry by Iranian authorities.

“In such a deplorable situation, we always continue trying to depict the reality of Iranian society in our films,” the directors wrote. “We have come to believe that it is no longer possible to tell the story of an Iranian woman while obeying strict laws such as the mandatory hijab.”

“This time, we have decided to cross all of the restrictive red lines, and accept the consequences of our choices to paint a real picture of Iranian women – images that have been banned in Iranian cinema ever since the Islamic Revolution,” they said.

Their film tells the story of a 70-year-old widow who rediscovers her love life in old age after the death of her husband.

Farhadpour referred to some of the strict rules imposed by censorship in Iran, such as a taboo against depicting older women finding love again.

Women don’t wear a hijab to sleep, the actress said, but are shown doing so in some films: “People laughed when women in films went to bed wearing a hijab.”

“Keyke Mahboobe man” has been polarizing in Iran, where the government adheres to a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam.