Richard Pena is the program director of
the New York Film Festival. He has introduced some of best Iran filmmaker over
the years. Iranians over the years have produced three generations of highly rated
film-makers and also produced popular entertainment. Iranian films in the past
decade have won awards at international festivals, where directors such as
Abbas Kiarostami and Mohsen Makhmalbaf are recognized as among the cinema's
most proficient artists. There are many critics of Iranian cinema. Some believe
that the Iranian cinema is locally irrelevant and inaccessible.
However, it is relevant internationally and that is why they won so many awards.
The Iranian cinema might seem irrelevant locally due to its real complexity; as
result, it challenges the public’s intellectual limits. Iran's cinema offers an
alternative that is fascinating, amazing, for its artistic sophistication and
passionate humanism. Their films contain real people, not actors, and real
locations. Non-Iranian viewers admire Iranian cinema. They are fascinated with
the location used to describe the culture of Iranian people. The filmmakers often focus
on ordinary people caught in harsh circumstances, cultural or natural forces, the
prejudices faced by women, and the extreme poverty. These are powerful messages
to viewers. Iranian filmmakers address issues with insight and the sense of
storytelling and with a striking purpose. Despite the beauty of
Iranian films, they missed the color of the Iran landmark. There are debate among Iranian audiences in
foreign countries about what comprises a true, genuine, factual representation
or image of the native soil, Iran, and what should be shown in films in order
to avoid a negative image of Iranian culture. Iranian
filmgoers feel shame and anger about the images of Iran society on the screen. No
matter how beautiful and inspiring the films are, they think that Western
viewers see them as a statistic. Some Iranians criticize Iranian filmmakers,
such as Kin and Ziba for their film Divorce
Iranian Style. It was produced in
1998. Parts of the critics’ problems were the women being portrayed in this
film, particularly in the courtroom. The majority of Iran films reflect the
filmmaker and his attitude. The negative
images’ locations are constrained by numerous factors. The main one is the
limited budget. There is an international demand for certain film descriptions
of real locations in Iran. To have it portrayed as a beautiful place and to
really embellish the exotic images. Their films are
restricted to specific types of locations due to a limited budget. This film
often referred as Iran neo-realism. However, the success of Kiarostami film has
persuaded many filmmakers to upgrade their film style. International film
festival and film markets also encourage Iranian filmmaker to meet the demand
of the Western cultures. Mohsen Makhmalbaf is a major figure in Iranian cinema.
His films have explored the relationship between the individual and a larger
social and political environment. Makhmalbaf directed Gabbeh in 1995. The film
provides colorful landscapes, and tribal, costumes and rituals to non-Iran
audiences. He produced films outside of Iran. This provided an up close and
personal look into locations other to the Iranians that viewed the films. A Time to Love, filmed in 1991, took
place in Turkey. The story of love, betrayal, and adultery was portrayed by
Turkish actors. This film gave the message to the people of Iran that adultery
and betrayal in other cultures did in fact exist. It also gave the message that
love exists in other places other than Iran. Just like any country, Iran has
beautiful, wealthy regions. It also has dismal and poverty stricken regions.
The desire of the critics is to portray them equally.
Written by student: Donald
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