Iranian cinema is facing many challenges these days: on the one hand, the cinema box office with the tight competition of “Mr. Leech” and “Enough of Negotiations” has barely 27 billion Tomans in weekly sales, and only 364 thousand people go to theaters, while the animation “Youz” is still a bestseller after three months. On the other hand, Kamal Tabrizi says with conditional hopes about the possibility of screening banned films such as “Killer and Savage” and “Quiet Streets”, while “Old Man” is struggling with film smuggling and its online release being banned, and its producer is complaining about the inattention of the judicial system.
Meanwhile, at least six films about the 12-day war have been prepared for the Fajr festival, Iraj Tahmasab and Dariush Fadziai are returning to television after years away, Yusuf Hatamikia wants to make history with Atmos technology (although only five cinemas have the facilities to broadcast it!), Roya Nonhali plays a terrorist in a series whose director has changed twice, “Vahshi” series has been acquitted of insulting the lawyers’ association, and in the celebration Hafez’s “Old Boy” won the best film, but Amirhossein Ghayazi’s sidelines and his wife made more noise than the awards. In short, Iranian cinema is still trying to survive with its last breath!
A tight battle between leeches and negotiators at the box office
In the past week, Iranian cinemas witnessed a competition that can be called a war between two giants. With weekly sales of 7.300 million tomans, “Mr. Leech” was able to surpass its fierce competitor “Enough of Negotiations” with a difference of only 800 million tomans and won the title of the best-selling movie of the week. This is despite the fact that the total weekly sales of all cinemas in the country reached 27 billion tomans and only 364 thousand people went to the cinema halls, a figure that shows that people either don’t have the money to go to the cinema or they don’t have the patience to watch these masterpieces! “Tehran 57” also placed itself in the third place with sales of 3 billion tomans.
But the real star of this table is, without a doubt, the animated film “Youz”, which after three months of release is still among the top four films and sold 2.8 billion tomans this week, bringing its total sales to 79 billion tomans. A figure that shows that sometimes a cartoon leopard can attract the audience better than all the real actors and directors! Ultimately, these numbers tell the story of a cinema that is struggling to survive while its audience is either sitting at home or watching online platforms.
When movies get old in the waiting room!
Kamal Tabrizi, the director who is currently a member of Parvaneh Drama Council, has announced that “Killer and Savage”, “Sishlik” and even “Quiet Streets” will finally be shown on the screen. Of course, these hopes have their own terms and conditions: for example, Mahmoud Razavi should be kind and apply for a license, the makers of “Sishlik” should also wake up and take action, and in the case of “Killer and Savage”, which is a more interesting story, it’s enough for the currents outside the Ministry of Guidance to turn a blind eye and forget Mrs. Hatami’s shaved head! Tabrizi delicately reminds that the film’s violence is not a problem at all and can be solved with a simple age classification, but the hijab issue has become so sensitive that it seems like we are negotiating about national security, not a movie scene.
In another part of this narrative, Tabrizi regretfully mentions the era of “Lizard” and says that the conditions were better at that time because at least his film was able to go on the screen, although later some people prevented it from continuing. But “Quiet Streets” has been sitting on the ban for fifteen years and waiting for a miracle that may never happen, because both the festival secretary and the council members could not bear to see the film! The interesting point here is that by referring to “Pirpsar” and “Ghreiza”, which were approved through discussion and dialogue, he reminds us that in this country, sometimes in order to get your rights, you have to sit around the negotiating table and clarify issues with the members of the parliament’s cultural commission, as if cinema is a complicated puzzle that needs to be solved with patience. Finally, with an optimism that we don’t know if it is from faith or despair, he announces that everything will be solved with the presence of “people who are from the heart of cinema”.
When Iranian cinema wants to go global with the voice of Atmos!
Youssef Hatamikia has decided to make history with the movie “Escort” and for the first time in Iran, he implemented Atmos mixing technology inside the country. This movie, produced by Mohammad Reza Mansouri and with the sound design of Alireza Alavian, is supposed to use its 3D and immersive sound not only as a technology but also as a “narrative tool” to enhance the atmosphere and tension, a sentence that was probably copied from the advertising brochure of a sound recording company! Alaviyan, who had previously mixed Atmos animation “The Last Story” abroad, this time in collaboration with Narin Studio has decided to advance everything in Iran and prove that we can do it too. The film, which was produced with the investment of the Agricultural Bank and the participation of the Farabi Foundation, is supposed to deal with the burning issues of the Shoutis and will be shown at the Fajr Festival, starring Amir Jadidi and Hoda Zainul Abdin.
But the interesting point of the story is that currently only five cinemas in Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz are equipped with the Atmos broadcast system, that is, you are making a movie with advanced technology that only five theaters can play it properly! It’s like building a Formula One car and trying to drive it on dirt roads. Of course, the public relations of the project announced with full optimism that this step can “lay the groundwork for the expansion of the use of advanced technologies” and reduce the dependence on foreign studios, a sentence that we usually hear when we know that it is probably going to remain the same in ten years! Perhaps the main goal is that when we send the film to foreign festivals, we can proudly say, “Atmospheric mixing was done in Iran”, even if domestic audiences will never have the opportunity to experience this 3D sound. Finally, “Escort” with today’s technology, must wait and see if it can handle the competition with “Mr. Leech” and “Sufficiency of Negotiations” or not because in Iranian cinema, the sound of Atmos may attract less audience than a good comedy!
Amopurang and Tahmasb
Iraj Tahmasab, a man who usually does not give interviews and is a fugitive from TV shows, appeared on the Yalda program “Hazarweek” and with his presence made everyone conclude that there is probably a big deal involved! When Homan Haji Abdolahi asked with a meaningful smile if he heard that he was going to do something interesting for television, Tahmasab said in a tone of caution and hope, “It’s not clear yet and negotiations are still ongoing,” a sentence that translates to “Yes, I’m coming back but I don’t want to sound too excited!” The story becomes more interesting from the fact that Nowruz 1403 Tahmasab made “Party” for the Nasim network, but after that the cooperation did not continue because the program agents revealed in interviews that they had not received their salary for a year, which means that the relations were not very friendly! But now that the voice actors of the puppet characters have recorded an audio file for Tahmasab, it can be assumed that the salaries have been paid or new promises have been made that made the new season of “Party” possible for Nowruz 1405.
In the meantime, Dariush Fadzai, who has been angry with television for four years and was busy making a series for the home show network, has apparently decided to return to his father’s house! Hamed Vakili announced on Channel 3’s Shab Yalday special that he is acting in the series “Eksir” directed by Ahmed Darvish Alipour and Dariush Fadziai plays the main role, news that is like finding a lost treasure for Ammopoorang fans! This team, who previously made “Mohalla Gol and Bulbul”, “Bache Mahal” and “Kalbe Amopurang” on TV, and then “Lullaby” and “Arzohay Chepki” on the home platform, now they have returned to the embrace of television, maybe because they realized that the money of the home show network is not as much as they thought! The interesting thing is that both of these returns happen on the eve of Nowruz 1405, as if the TV has come to the conclusion for Nowruz that without Amopurang and Tahmasb’s party, its table is empty and it is forced to extend the hand of peace to those with whom it had a fight over wages a few years ago. Now we have to wait and see if these reconciliations will last or if they will come back to each other over money and contracts!
The return of a childhood dream
Roya Nonhali, who introduced us to the world of criminal women and crime stories 24 years ago with the role of “Natasha” in the “Sleep and Wake” series, has now decided to go one step higher and play the role of a real terrorist in the “Night Light” series. This security spy series, which is currently being filmed by Mahmoud Moazzami, tells the story of a terrorist who enters Iran to carry out a complex operation. Of course, it is not clear how complicated this operation is, but according to the history of our security series, it probably includes several street chases and two or three dramatic scenes in an abandoned warehouse! Nonhali, who was away from the television scene for many years, now with this negative role, he intends to remind his audience that he is still the first in the field of playing villainous roles.
But the story behind the production of this series is more interesting than the story itself. “Night Light” was first directed by veteran director Ahmad Muradpour, but apparently the officials were not satisfied with the quality of the work and decided to remove him and replace him with Mahmoud Moazzami. With full confidence, Moazzami decided to throw away all the previous sequences and start from scratch. Now this 30-episode series, which is being made based on the script of Abbas Nemati and produced by Behrouz Mofid, has to wait and see if its quality will satisfy the authorities this time or if a third director will come to him again! In any case, Nonhali’s return as a terrorist promises that there is at least one interesting element in this series.
When a series makes lawyers go to court!
Filmnet Institute and the creators of “Wahshi” series can breathe a sigh of relief these days, because Tehran’s Culture and Media Prosecutor’s Office has decided to acquit them of the charge of publishing lies, insulting the lawyers’ profession and disturbing the public mind, of course, after they spent some time worrying that they might be jailed for a fictional character. The story started when a person saw the character of “Reha Jahanshahi” played by Negar Javaherian, a lawyer who reveals his client’s secrets in the series and testifies against him, and came to the conclusion that this series is insulting the noble profession of lawyers and causing suspicion in the society! The plaintiff, who was apparently very upset by seeing these scenes, complained to Homan Sidi (director), Mohammad Reza Saberi (producer) and the rest of the staff and demanded that the series be stopped, as if the series is a documentary and shows the reality of the legal profession.
Fortunately, the investigator of the case issued a restraining order against the producers after reviewing the contents and emphasized that every immoral act in a film is not necessarily a crime and the solution to deal with these cases is “culturalization and interaction”, not a criminal and judicial reaction. The court also declared that the production of this series is not an example of haram actions or hurting public modesty. This ruling is not only good news for the creators of “Savage”, but it shows that there is still hope that our judges can distinguish between art and reality, and that anyone who is upset by seeing a negative character in a series cannot take the creators to court.
Old boy: the story of smuggling that needs a miracle!
Hanif Sarvari, the producer of the movie “Old Man”, these days is busy telling a story that is more like a Hollywood spy movie than a real story of Iranian cinema! He says that his film was smuggled by the person who was responsible for international distribution and festival registration, and this same person published the film with his own watermark, which means he didn’t even bother to erase his mark! Sarwari, in a tone of mixed anger and frustration, explained that when they found out about the incident, the suspect was leaving the country at night and they rushed to the airport, but “no order was given to their conversations” and the person passed the gate and apparently went to Turkey and then to another country. Now, two months have passed since their complaint, but the prosecutor’s office has not taken any action, the case has not been referred to a branch, and they have not even banned the suspect, who seems to be in Iran these days.
But the story doesn’t end here, and the more interesting part of the story begins where Sarvari says that after smuggling the film, they decided to release the film online on Filmnet to avoid a loss of one million dollars, but four or five days later, the film was stopped by the prosecutor’s order, without any legal reason! He explains with astonishment that they told them “you broadcast the film illegally and without permission”, while the film had a screening permit from the Ministry of Culture and was released in cinemas. Now he is busy pursuing the serialization of the film with other platforms and hopes to release six episodes of the series for Eid.
12-day war; The main focus of Fajr festival
These days, Iranian cinema is busy producing movies about the 12-day war. At least six films about this war have been prepared or are being produced, from “Midnight” by Mohammad Hossein Mahdovian, which returned after four years away from cinema, to “The Uninvited Guest” by Ibrahim Amini, which intends to show the war from a family perspective and even a comedy. Mahdovian, who has a relatively good history with “Standing in the Dust”, this time made “Midnight” with Elnaz Malek and produced by Habib Wali Nejad, which was filmed in Yousefabad, Tehran and is based on a true story.
On the other hand, Razzaq Karimi brothers with “Kafe Sultan”, Mohsen Behari with “Qamarbaz” who is fighting about the hacking of banks, Salar Tehrani with “Deke” and the famous Babak with “Gloria” have all decided to have a share in this 12-day war. The interesting thing is that all these movies were filmed in Tehran. Now we have to see if this 12-day war can turn into a special era like the eight-year war films that have been made for more than 35 years but are still spectacular, or if it is just a temporary trend to fill the Fajr festival that everyone will forget by next year.
Hafez festival: where the margins are more interesting than awards!
The 24th Hafez festival was held recently and according to the usual tradition of Iranian film festivals, the margins were more colorful than the event itself. The ceremony began with the words of Omid Moalem, who spoke about the “hands-on” in organizing the celebration and considered the multiple changes of the ceremony venue as a reason for fewer people to attend. But the most viral scene of the night happened when Amir Hossein Qiyasi won the award for the best TV personality for the “Midnight” program. He also attended an official event with his wife for the first time and their videos and photos quickly went viral with the caption “we saw the syllogism type”, meaning people were more interested in syllogism’s personal life than the film awards. The other edge of the night was created when rap music was played on a clip by Abbas Kiarostami and Jafar Panahi and was accompanied by continuous applause from the audience.
On the same night, the movie “Old Boy” won the awards for the best film, the best director for Oktay Brahni, and the best actor in a movie drama for Hassan Pourshirazi. Of course, Pourshirazi presented his award to Bahram Bayzaei, and Hanif Sarvari talked about the actors who have been banned in recent years. “Wahshi”, which was acquitted in court these days, was able to win the awards for the best series and the best television director. Reza Attaran and Alika Abd al-Razzaghi won the best comedy actress awards for “Suspended Date” and Behnoosh Tabatabai took home the best actress award for TV drama with her special style. The interesting thing is that the award for the best artistic achievement went to the animation “In the Shade of Cypress”, which was successful at the Oscars 2025, but none of its actors were present and only their message was read.
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