Iranian Cinema Women and the Woman, Life, Freedom Movement
Iranian Cinema Women and the Woman, Life, Freedom Movement: According to Iran Gate, the Woman, Life, Freedom movement prompted us to examine the role of Iranian female filmmakers in supporting this movement both inside and outside the country. These are those who worked in the name of women, for life and freedom, and some paid a price for it.
Taraneh Alidoosti
In 2022, she was a central member of a group known as the 800 Women, female filmmakers who issued a statement against sexual harassment in the Iranian cinema scene and continued their efforts to combat it. However, Taraneh Alidoosti, who had taken a break from acting for a few years, had two significant films this year.
The first was ‘Leila’s Brothers’, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, where she participated with the director and other actors, speaking out about the oppression in Iran. The series of events at Cannes led to the official ban of this film.
In the summer, the film ‘Subtraction’, directed by Mani Haghighi, was screened at the Toronto Film Festival. This film did not reach theaters after the director’s clear stance against the government during the 2022 protests.
With the start of nationwide protests following the death of Mahsa Amini, Taraneh Alidoosti was one of the most famous Iranian female filmmakers who supported the protesters. In mid-November, she published a photo of herself without a hijab holding a paper with the Kurdish slogan ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ written on it, and later criticized the government after the executions of protesters began.
For this reason, on December 17, she was arrested after security forces raided her home. Her arrest received widespread international attention, and she was eventually released on bail about three weeks later. Her name had also been placed on the government’s list of banned individuals since October.
An actress who had a significant reputation in cinema and television for four decades, especially gaining popularity for her role as Zuleikha in the series ‘Joseph the Prophet’, had stepped away from work and activities for a while but became one of the most newsworthy figures of the year in 2022.
Ms. Riahi also claimed, simultaneously with the announcement of the screening of ‘Leila’s Brothers’ at the Cannes Film Festival, that one of the main male actors of the film had sexually harassed her years ago. This statement received various reactions.
However, Katayoun Riahi was the most prominent Iranian actress who, in the early days of the nationwide protests, removed her headscarf and published a photo of herself without a hijab, then gave an interview with a Persian-language media outlet outside Iran, joining the forefront of the protesters’ supporters.
Shortly after, it was reported that security forces had gone to her house to arrest her, but she managed to escape until the end of November when news of her arrest was published. The head of the Qazvin Province Judiciary informed domestic media that she was arrested in one of the villages of Abyek County, Qazvin. Her charge was the dissemination of provocative content in support of street unrest. About ten days later, media reported she was released on bail.
The most internationally renowned Iranian actress became one of the most important figures opposing the Islamic Republic in the second half of 2022 and even joined the coalition to transition from the Islamic Republic alongside Reza Pahlavi.
After acting in the American film ‘Body of Lies’ in the late 2000s, she was forced to leave Iran and has recently become a star in French cinema, acting in cinematic and television works.
From the very first days of the news about Mahsa Amini’s critical condition, Golshifteh Farahani used social media to make the world aware of the Islamic Republic’s treatment of women and subsequently the protesters.
The peak of her activities was when, as a member of the jury at the Berlin Film Festival, she initiated a wave of support for Iranian women protesters at this significant international event. Besides taking a stand at the jury’s press conference and the Berlinale opening, she helped organize a program on the red carpet in support of Iranian protesters.
A few months earlier, at a Coldplay concert in Argentina, she performed a song by Shervin Hajipour, which caught the attention of many Iranians.
Another highlight of her activities in 2022 was at a Georgetown University meeting where, in a video message, she expressed solidarity with Reza Pahlavi, Hamed Esmaeilion, Nazanin Boniadi, and Masih Alinejad on behalf of herself and Ali Karimi. About a month later, a charter was released by this group proposing a method to transition from the Islamic Republic.
Like Golshifteh Farahani, she was also forced to leave Iran years ago, facing a more challenging path that in 2022 led her to one of the world’s most prestigious cinema awards when she won the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival for her role in ‘Holy Spider’.
With the start of the protests in Iran, Zar Amir Ebrahimi became one of the most important supporters of this movement in social media and international forums, while her new works were screened at major festivals. Her film ‘Shayda’ was shown at the Sundance Film Festival, the most significant event for independent American cinema, winning the Audience Award in the international section. Later, two films featuring her were screened at the Berlin Film Festival, made by Iranian filmmakers abroad.
It was then announced that, in an unprecedented event, a film about forty years of competition between Iranian athletes and their Israeli counterparts was to be co-directed with an Israeli director, with her playing one of the main roles. This is the first time filmmakers from these two countries are set to make a film together, challenging one of the Islamic Republic’s major red lines.
Her last creation was a puppet series for one of the online streaming platforms, which was left unfinished in 2021 due to pressure from conservative media and strict regulations by SATRA, the body responsible for supervising home entertainment content.
Although Marzieh Boroumand had been away from the peak of her career, known for creating popular series like ‘The Beautiful Hairdresser’ and ‘The Tales of Tabetaba’, the events of 2022 made her one of the year’s most important cinematic figures.
During the protests, when the controversial mural by Ouj Organization was installed in Tehran’s Valiasr Square, showcasing images of women from several generations in an advertising composition, she posted on Instagram that she did not want her image on a wall under which young people were suppressed, and she requested the removal of her picture.
However, few predicted she would suddenly emerge in the professional cinema circles of Iran. The new board of directors of the House of Cinema was elected in September 2022, but the start of the protests delayed the appointment of a managing director due to the country’s sensitive situation and the House of Cinema’s involvement in legal and judicial pursuits for arrested filmmakers. The chairman of the House of Cinema board announced in early winter that negotiations were held with several individuals for the managing director position, but none accepted.
With the end of the 41st Fajr Film Festival, which was widely boycotted by filmmakers and famous cinema figures, it seemed the industry’s controversies had ended. However, in March, Marzieh Boroumand was unexpectedly named the first woman to become the managing director of the House of Cinema.
This event is particularly significant as Iranian female filmmakers played a prominent role in supporting the 2022 protests, and Ms. Boroumand’s appointment to the most important managerial position in Iranian cinema associations could be a response to the social demands of the Iranian people.