Iranian directors at Berlin festival: More funding, independence needed for movies

Iranian film directors: More funding, independence

BERLIN — Making movies in Iran is becoming increasingly difficult because of economic constraints that have pushed many art house directors toward outside funding and fueling a vibrant underground scene.

Director Rafi Pitts said Wednesday at the Berlin Film festival that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government has largely dismantled the cinema industry in Iran by channeling funding into television.

Pitts, whose film “The Hunter” is screening at the festival, said the lack of government support for independent films has forced directors to seek funding from abroad, which carries its own problems.

“Trying to find money abroad is also a dangerous thing” Pitts said because producers often make financial support subject to changes in story lines or scripts to conform with their ideas.

“There is a political correctness in the world that thinks only a certain thing can sell.”

Several Iranian filmmakers screening movies at the festival discussed the challenges they face in making movies in a contemporary Iran crippled by years of economic sanctions and a government they say only promotes films with a message, preferably a religious one.

Director Jafar Panahi, whose film “Offside,” won took a runner-up Silver Bear award at the 2006 Berlin festival, was to have attended but Iranian authorities refused to let him leave the country.

Yet the situation is not only dire, said documentary filmmaker Reza Haeri, noting the anti-government protests sparked by the disputed presidential election last year have been a source of inspiration.

“We want to describe everything,” said Haeri.

The protests and government crackdown drove many young filmmakers into a lively underground scene that thrives on modern technology, said Nader Davoodi.

Davoodi, whose documentary “Red, White & the Green” focusing on the three weeks just before the June election is showing at the festival, said to expect some surprises from future Iranian films.

“I think that when (the young directors) find the courage to show their work to the free world, you will see some great things,” Davoodi said.