iran worldwide
The Iranian Independent Film Producers Association (IIFMA) has despatched a letter to AMPAS protesting the exclusion of murdered director Dariush Mehrjui from the Academy Awards’ memorial part on Sunday night time.
In maintaining with Oscar custom, the Academy offered the brief movie “In Memoriam” that includes 51 individuals who died within the earlier 12 months, together with actor Matthew Perry, director William Friedkin, actor/performer Jane Birkin, and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. Celebrities from the world and leisure world paid their respects. section.
Meadjui was named in his place on a memorial web page on the Academy’s web site, together with 279 different lately deceased movie trade figures, together with 51 who had been honored on the ceremony.
The director was stabbed to loss of life in his dwelling on the outskirts of Tehran in October final 12 months, alongside along with his screenwriter spouse Vahide Moahmadifar.
The unsolved homicide comes simply months after he posted a web-based video denouncing the Iranian authorities’s crackdown on the movie trade, elevating considerations that his killing might have been a state-sponsored crime. Suspicions arose.
IIFMA, which was based in 2023 within the wake of Iran’s “Freedom for Women’s Life” protests to symbolize filmmakers not affiliated with the repressive Islamic Republic authorities, wrote about Mehrjui on the academy’s memorial web site. He stated that simply mentioning it was not sufficient.
“It is extraordinarily unlucky that Dariush Mehrjui, who made an enormous contribution to world cinema and fought for creative freedom, was excluded from the memorial part,” the group wrote.
IIFMA highlights Mehrjui’s position as one of many founders of the Iranian New Wave of the Seventies, crediting him with placing Iranian cinema on the world map and paving the best way for the likes of Abbas Kiarostami and Asghar Farhadi. prompt.
Also, Mehrjui’s The Cycle (Delay Mina) gained the International Federation of Critics Award on the Berlin Film Festival and was screened at quite a few movie festivals, together with Chicago, earlier than being screened within the 1977-1978 movie pageant. It was additionally recalled that it was the primary Iranian movie to be formally submitted to the fiftieth Academy Awards.
Other breakthrough works embody The Cow (1969), which gained awards in Venice and Berlin. “The Postman” (1972), “The Lady” (1992), “Sarah” (1993)
“Dariush Mehrjui was a outstanding determine, a maestro whose works not solely entertained but additionally enlightened and challenged us, pushing the boundaries of thought and notion. He was a rebellious artist. , used the medium of movie to shine a lightweight on social points which are usually left unseen or deliberately ignored,” IIFMA wrote.
“Mehrjui’s courageous stand towards many years of repression and censorship was an unimaginable act of braveness. His protest video, launched lower than six months after his brutal killing, is a name for creative freedom. , a testomony to his unwavering dedication to the trigger. It is barely hypothesis that he paid the last word value for refusing to stay silent. His life had been tragically taken simply 5 months earlier. lower brief by a stunning act of violence.”
IIFMA known as on the academy to publish a “extra becoming tribute” to Méluy’s life, work, legacy and homicide on its web site, social media and different affiliated media.
“Mehrjui’s reminiscence and contribution to the world of cinema shouldn’t be forgotten, however needs to be celebrated and remembered for generations to return,” it learn. “We imagine his sacrifice, life and work need to be acknowledged on a worldwide stage such because the Academy Awards.”
The letter was led by Mahshid Zamani Bozorgnia, a California-based Iranian movie critic and cultural occasion organizer.
She has been concerned in efforts to analyze the circumstances surrounding Méluy’s loss of life as a advisor for BBC World Service producer Hassan Sorjou’s upcoming documentary Sunset Sumberness.
Sorjou’s movie delves into Mehrjui’s life, his persona as a rebellious artist who confronted censorship in each the Shah’s regime and the Islamic Republic, and his latest assist for the Women’s Life Freedom motion.
IIFMA screened a documentary at present in manufacturing as a market screening on the Berlin Film Festival in February as a tribute to Mary Lui.
Deadline has reached out to the Academy for a response.