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Romantic drama triggers government crackdown on Iranian filmmakers

A romantic drama about an elderly couple who share a night together to escape their loneliness has landed its Iranian directors with legal charges and pressure to stop its release internationally. The feel-good movie called “My Favourite Cake” has been lauded on the festival circuit and appeared in cinemas in more than a dozen countries at the end of 2024.With favourable reviews mounting and more international releases expected in coming weeks, Tehran-based directors Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha are facing rising intimidation from Iranian authorities.”They want us to stop the release of the film in different countries,” Sanaeeha told AFP by videocall from the Iranian capital.”When a film goes to festival or starts a new release in a new country, they call us … and then push us to stop the film, in France, in Italy, in Germany and everywhere,” he added.After forces from the Revolutionary Guards raided their office in 2023, the pair were charged with “propaganda against the regime”, “spreading the libertinism and prostitution” and breaking Islamic law with “vulgarity”. Once a month or more since then, the directors of the 2020 film “Ballad of a White Cow” have had to report to police for questioning and have had their passports confiscated.Other acclaimed Iranian directors from Jafar Panahi to Mohammad Rasoulof, who fled Iran last year, have faced similar pressure.”Now we are waiting for the final decision of the court,” Sanaeeha explained.- ‘Story of reality’ -Subtle and moving, “My Favourite Cake” defies Iran’s strict censorship rules with its intimate portrayal of everyday life — something the director couple knew was a risk. “From the beginning, we knew that it was going to have consequences for us,” Sanaeeha continued. “Not only me and Maryam … The actors are now on trial, the same as us, with less charges, but they are in the same case.”The film touches on many sensitive issues for Iran’s Islamic regime, portraying a couple that remembers life before the social restrictions brought in following the 1979 Iranian Revolution.It also about a relationship between two unmarried adults — a widow and a widower — while the female lead, Lili Farhadpour, does not wear a veil.”We wanted to tell the story of the reality of our lives, which is about those forbidden things like singing, dancing, not wearing hijab at home, which no one does at home,” Moghadam, who is also an actress, told AFP.”Being a normal person, having desires, touching each other, all these things have been forbidden. But to tell these realities was very important for us,” she added.”In Iranian films, for 45 years, you would see an Iranian woman waking up in bed with a hijab. It’s absurd because it’s not happening in reality in Iranian houses!” Sanaeeha added.- ‘Shocked’ -Filming started two weeks before the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protest movement in Iran in 2022 sparked by the arrest of a 22-year-old student Mahsa Amini for a dress code violation who later died in police custody.The protests were suppressed by a deadly crackdown that left hundreds dead, according to human rights groups.”We were shocked. We stopped the shooting (of the film),” Sanaeeha explained. “Then after two days, we all came together… and we talked for a couple of hours and we reminded ourselves that the film that we were making was the same topics of the movement.”The film comes out in France on Wednesday and is set to release in Brazil, Greece, Norway and Belgium this year, while negotiations are underway for theatrical releases in seven other countries, including the United States. For the moment, Iranians can only watch it through illicit downloads or pirated versions shared on encrypted messaging services such as Telegram. “We believe that we have to be here. We have to stand and we have to fight,” Moghadam said of the risks the couple are taking.”We don’t know what will happen in the future,” she added.

At Damascus opera house, hopes for a better future

To applause, percussionist Bahjat Antaki took the stage with Syria’s national symphony orchestra, marking the first classical concert at the Damascus opera house since president Bashar al-Assad’s ouster.The concert was a way of saying “we are here and able to produce art,” despite more than years of devastating war, Antaki told AFP after last week’s performance, which drew an audience of hundreds.”We will continue, and we will be stronger and more beautiful,” the 24-year-old said.After Islamist-led rebels ousted Assad on December 8, the orchestra’s rehearsals and concerts were halted as Syria embarked on a delicate transition away from decades of one-family rule enforced by a repressive security apparatus.While the country has breathed a sigh of relief, many in the capital — known for being more liberal than other parts of the country — have expressed apprehension about the direction the new Islamist leaders may take on personal freedoms and potentially the arts.The new authorities have said repeatedly they will protect Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities, and that the country’s transition will be inclusive.”There aren’t fears, but worries,” said violinist Rama al-Barsha before going onstage.”We hope for more support — under the old regime, we had no financial aid or even symbolic support,” the 33-year-old said.The concert was conducted by Missak Baghboudarian, a member of Syria’s Armenian minority, and included works by Beethoven and Tchaikovsky but also by Syrian composers.In the audience were European and Gulf Arab diplomats as well as new Health Minister Maher al-Sharaa and his family.- Homage ‘to the martyrs’ -Sharaa is the brother of interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa, who until recently led the Islamist group that spearheaded the offensive against Assad.The group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has its roots in Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate but cut ties in 2016.Last month, the opera house also hosted its first concert by well-known Islamic music singer known as Abu Ratib, who returned after decades in exile for his political views and whose recordings until recently were sold in secret.The orchestral performance paid homage “to the martyrs and the glory of Syria”.A minute’s silence was held for the more than 500,000 people killed during the civil war which erupted after Assad brutally repressed anti-government protests in 2011.Images of the destruction wreaked by more than 13 years of fighting were projected on the back wall of the stage, along with pictures of mass demonstrations.Also shown were photographs of Alan Kurdi, the toddler who became a tragic symbol of the Syrian refugee crisis when his tiny body was washed up on a Turkish beach in 2015 after his family’s failed attempt to reach EU member Greece by small boat.- ‘The Syria we want’ -In a reminder of the heavy economic cost of the war, the venue was unheated for the concert despite the winter cold. Organisers said they could not afford the fuel, and both musicians and technical staff performed for free.Audience member Omar Harb, 26, acknowledged concerns about the future of the arts in Syria’s Islamist-led political transition but said after the performance that “it seems that nothing will change”.”We hope that these events will continue — I want to come back again,” said the young doctor, after watching his first concert at the opera house.Yamama al-Haw, 42, said the venue was “a very dear place”. “What we see here today is the Syria that I love… the music, the people who have come to listen — that’s the best image of Damascus,” she said, beaming, and wearing a white hijab.She expressed optimism that the country was headed towards “better days”.”Everything suggests that what will come will be better for the people… we will have the Syria we want.”