tehran 5-2-9
Tehran, Iran febr 6 2009
Teheran prepares to celebrate 30 years of revolution.
I posted a movie of the famous wall of the former US Embassy, now home of the hardline religious police Sepah. You see them standing with their VW vans, and putting young girls in their cars who are not properly dressed. You will be in jail for ±24 hours, depending on the wealth of your family
Every day more journalists are coming in to inform you all about the situation here. Complaints in the hotel this morning that people do not want to be filmed. “They are really open until you get your camera’s out.”
It probably will be worse the next week with people running in the streets with big camera’s. I found out today that the celebration is not on the 11th, like in the past but this year on the 10t. Even the Iranians laugh about this crazy fact.
Yesterday went to the Fajr Film Festival. Again, like with the theatre fights in the streets to get tickets. It is amazing how many people want to get in the theatres and cinema’s. There are to few of them and to many people. Also they only screen a film once or twice in the festival. And than it is over.
It is interesting to see how brutal the censorship is done…a very rough cut, image and sound together whenever there is the suspicion of a kiss or a bedscene. I heard that in Mr en Mrs Smith, where Angelina Jolie wears short shorts, they animated long trousers on her, and even changed the POV from the camera so her breasts wouldn’t show.
Had an interesting discussion about Iranian filmmakers making films for the West. With themes the West likes to see about Iran: women, veils en chadors, prostitution, rappers, underground, anti USA, muslim victims.
Nobody wants to make a film for an Iranian public, there is no money in that and few cinema’s.
I saw 2 beautiful slow Iranian films yesterday. Lots of relation stuff, a bit Bergmann-like, very well acted and filmed. One was called “Voices”, the other one” Another lonely day”.
Women have to wear scarfs all through the film, which makes the image we have of Iran more veiled…normally women take their scarfs and chadors off when in the house, but on screen they have to be veiled all the time or the film will not be screened in the cinema.
Yesterday the main character was ill, so her head was bold because of chemo, and than it is possible to show the head, no hair is seen, because it is not there……so much for the logic of this system……
