Intermediate
Iranian Director's Film Goes to Cannes Festival
May 13th, 2024
An Iranian movie director, Mohammad Rasoulof, had to leave his country and go to Europe. He made a film called "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" and will show it at the Cannes Film Festival in France. Before that, the government in Iran said he must go to jail for eight years and also be punished in other ways. They did not like his movies and the letters he signed asking for peace.
Mohammad chose to leave Iran instead of going to jail. It was hard because Iran took away his passport in 2017. But he did not want to stay and be treated badly. He does not like how the government in Iran is not nice to people and does not respect their rights.
People are worried about the other artists in Iran who worked with Mohammad on his movie. Some of them had problems with the government too. The Cannes Film Festival is talking about his movie and how it shows the problems in Iran.
Mohammad is now safe in a place in Europe that people do not know. Everyone hopes he can come to the festival and watch his film with others.
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💭 Discussion Questions
1
. Why did Mohammad Rasoulof have to leave Iran?2
. What is the name of the film Mohammad Rasoulof will show at the Cannes Film Festival?3
. Why are people concerned about the other artists in Iran?📖 Vocabulary
🌐 Cultural context
Iran is a country in the Middle East. The government has strict rules about what movies can show. The Cannes Film Festival is a famous event in France where movies from around the world are shown. Iran has had tensions with artists over freedom of expression.
🧠 Further reading
Film censorship
Movies sometimes have parts taken out or are not allowed to be shown because they might have too much fighting, adult scenes, or talk about difficult topics. Different places have their own rules about what is okay in movies and these rules can change over time.
Movies have ratings, like PG or 18+, so people know what kind of content they will see, such as action, bad words or adult themes. These ratings help decide what movies are okay for different ages.
In Australia, there's a group called the Australian Classification Board. They follow rules set by the government to decide a movie's rating. Sometimes, Australia says no to showing certain movies or even stops them from being sold on DVDs.
In Brazil, there was a time when the government was very strict and controlled what could be shown in movies. During this time, it was hard for movies to be shown without the government saying it was okay.
Artistic freedom
Artistic freedom means that people can imagine, create, and share different kinds of art without anyone stopping them. This freedom is very important for democracy because it allows citizens to see different forms of art and take part in cultural activities. Sometimes, governments or other groups might try to control or stop artists from making their art. There are laws in many places to help protect artists so that they can express themselves freely.
In 2013, a special report was given to the United Nations. This report talked about how important artistic freedom is for human rights. It said that being able to make art and express yourself is a basic human right. The report also mentioned that artists need to be free to travel and work with others.
Every year, an organization called Freemuse writes a report about artistic freedom. They look at how free artists are around the world to make and share their art.
Human rights in Iran
In Iran, there have been two important times when the government treated people in ways that many did not like. First, there was a time when kings called shahs ruled Iran, from 1925 to 1979. These kings, Reza Shah Pahlavi and his son, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, had a lot of power and used it to control people. They had secret police and sometimes hurt or even killed people who did not agree with them.
After the kings, there was a big change in Iran called the Islamic Revolution in 1979. This started a new government that had different rules based on their religion, Islam, but it also did things that many people around the world did not think was right. They punished people very harshly and did not let them speak freely or choose their own religion. Sometimes, they hurt people or treated them very badly without giving them a chance to defend themselves. People all over the world and in Iran have said that this is wrong.