.jpg "Director Kianush Ayyari attends a press conference after a screening of his film “The Paternal House” during the 32nd Fajr International Film Festival at Tehran’s Milad Tower on February 8, 2014. (Mehr/Masud Saki)")
TEHRAN -- Iranian director Kianush Ayyari has said that he made “The Paternal House” to criticize blind fanaticism in Iranian society.
A dressing the Iranian cultural officials during a press conference after a screening of the film at the 32nd Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran on Saturday evening, Ayyari said, “Please, don’t censor me and don’t expect me not to make a film on major issues on my society.”
“‘The Paternal House’ is about the reality of our society and I wanted to censure the blind fanaticism by making the film,” he added.
The film contains three episodes, the first of which is set in 1929 when a father and his young son, Mohtasham, kill his young daughter for an unspecified dishonor, burying her body in the cellar of their house while other members of the family are outside. They tell the family she has run away.
The second episode is also set in the house during the 1940s when mother dies of a stroke after she learns about the secret.
Decades later, when the father dies, Mohtasham’s daughter challenges father for his role in the murder. All the episodes highlight the oppression of women.
The controversial drama was directed in 2010 with commercial sponsorship from Naji Honar, a major filmmaking institute that is affiliated with Iran’s National Police.
The film became a matter of great sensitivity after former cinema officials under the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s administration, refused to authorize the film. As a result, Naji Honar objected to the screening of the film.
The officials had asked Ayyari to cut the first episode and some scenes from other episodes to authorize the film.
However, the Iran Cinema Organization granted temporary permission for the film to be screened at the Fajr festival, which will come to an end on Tuesday.
“The film has had 25 screenings over the past three days at a number of theaters and all the people who saw the film said that there was no reason the film should be banned unless there had been a misunderstanding,” Ayyari said.
He was pleased that “The Paternal House” was given the opportunity to be shown at the Fajr festival. However, he was not sure the film would remain intact for public screening in Iran.
“Any cut will spoil the film,” he noted.
MMS/YAW
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