TEHRAN -- The director of the Cinema Organization of Iran has said that Iranian cinema is recovering from the setback it experienced under the former cultural administration.
“The vibrancy in the box office receipts shows that Iranian cinema is recovering,” Hojjatollah Ayyubi told the Persian service of IRNA on Friday.
He said that the Iranian theaters earned 280 billion rials (about $9 million) over the past five months.
According to Ayyubi, this sum equals Iran’s total box office receipts in the past Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2013-March 20, 2014).
“Iranian cinema already experienced a difficult time and a period of anxiety. Now, a relaxed atmosphere dominates the cinema of the country, and the unity among the cineastes and the production of outstanding films encourage people go to the cinema,” he stated.
“Now, something good has happened in the art and culture of the country: the gap between the government and artists has been filled and we should make good use of this atmosphere to promote national cinema,” he added.
Ayyubi said that the country’s cinema infrastructure is suffering from a setback and asked the private sector to invest in the construction of new movie theaters in order to restore part of the deficiency.
According to Ayyubi, over 300 movie theaters are currently active in Iran and 80 new cinemas are being built across the country.
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