Last week, nine members of the AmericanAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences arrived for a visit in Iran, with the aim of meeting with Iranian filmmakers. The group, which included Sid Ganis, Annette Bening, William Horberg, Frank Pierson, Alfre Woodard, Ellen Harrington, James Longley, Tom Pollock, and Phil Robinson, met in Tehran with Iranian filmmakers for seminars on directing, screenwriting, and acting. [1]
Left: Annette Bening, left, and Alfre Woodard, right, with Iranian actress Fatemeh Motamed-Aria (Press TV) March 2, 2009
Right: IranianScreenwritersCenter director Farhad Tohidi (right) and American screenwriters Frank Pierson (center) and Phil Robinson attend a session at the Iranian House of Cinema in Tehran on February 28, 2009 ( Tehran Times)
In Response to Visit, Iran Calls for Apology from Hollywood for Three Decades of Insult to Iran
In response to the visit, Javad Shamaghdari, art advisor to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, called on senior Iranian filmmakers not to meet with the Hollywood group, until they apologized for insulting the Iranian people and the Islamic Revolution and for issuing lies in films such as "300," "Not Without My Daughter," and, recently, "The Wrestler." He said, "Cinema officials will only have the right to have official sessions with... Hollywood movie makers when [the latter] apologize to the Iranians for their 30 years of insults and slanders." He added that Iran would believe U.S. President Barack Obama's promise of change if it was expressed in an official apology from Hollywood. [2]
Kayhan: Visit Part of Plot to Topple Iranian Regime Via Velvet Revolution
An article published today, March 2, 2009, in the Iranian daily Kayhan, which is close to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, stated that the American film delegation's visit was part of a plot to topple the Iranian regime by means of a velvet revolution.
The article, which was titled "What Are the Producers of Anti-Iranian Films Doing Here?" criticized the Ahmadinejad government's foreign, intelligence, and culture ministries for giving these a visa to these guests, whom it called "the planners and heads of a new Hollywood project against Iranian national security," and stated that the ministries must explain to the Iranian nation how they had approved this visit.
It said that by hosting the delegation, Iran had gone even farther than the film industries of European countries such as England, France, Germany, and Italy, which distance themselves from the American film industry.
The article then stated that an examination of Universal Pictures' output in recent years shows that of over 200 films, films insulting God, Islam, and the Muslims, promoting propaganda of the CIA and of the "Israeli terror organization" the Mossad, and films containing other shameful content, figure prominently. In addition, it said, in the past two years Universal promoted an anti-Iranian revolution animated feature titled "Persepolis."
The article expressed opposition to the visit, and added that "it remains only to hope that this type of anti-Iranian attempt will not cross over to our cinema." [3]
From The MEMRI TV Archives: Iranian Views of Hollywood and the American Film Industry
Following are clips from the MEMRI TV archives of Iranian views of Hollywood and the American film industry.
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MEMRI TV Clip #1811 - Iranian TV Documentary Series Traces Zionist Themes in Western Movies: "Meet the Parents"
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1811.htm
MEMRI TV Clip #1807 - Iranian TV Documentary Series Traces Zionist Themes in Western Movies: "Fiddler on the Roof"
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1807.htm
MEMRI TV Clip #1806 - Iranian TV Documentary Series Traces Zionist Themes in Western Movies: "American History X"
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1806.htm
MEMRI TV Clip #1801 - Iranian TV Documentary Series Traces Zionist Themes in Western Movies: "Saving Private Ryan"
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1801.htm
MEMRI TV Clip #1787 - Iranian TV Documentary Series Traces Zionist Themes in Western Movies: "Chicken Run"
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1787.htm
MEMRI TV Clip #1400 - IRINN Commentary on The New Film "300"
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1400.htm
MEMRI TV Clip #1330 - In a Lecture to Revolutionary Guards Officers, Iranian Film Critic Majid Shah-Hosseini Traces Western Islamophobia Back to Films "Godzilla," "Alien," "Star Wars," Claims the Concept of Brotherhood in "Band of Brothers" Was Stolen from Iran, and Warns: The Film "Alexander" Prepares American Public Opinion for the Conquest of Iran
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1330.htm
MEMRI TV Clip #1278 - Iranian TV "Exposes" Zionist Tendencies of the Walt Disney Company, as Manifest in Its Recently Released "Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest"
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1278.htm
MEMRI TV Clip #1049 - Film Seminar on Iranian TV: Tom and Jerry - A Jewish Conspiracy to Improve the Image of Mice, because Jews Were Termed "Dirty Mice" in Europe
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1049.htm
MEMRI TV Clip #945 - Iranian Filmmaker and Commentator Nader Talebzadeh: 9/11 Footage Appeared in Movies from the 80's and 90's. The Aliens in "War of the Worlds" Are Muslims
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/945.htm
MEMRI TV Clip #253 - An Iranian TV Show about Steven Spielberg's Movies
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/253.htm
MEMRI TV Clip #127 - Iranian Filmmaker, Nader Talebzadeh, Analyzes Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/127.htm
MEMRI TV Clip #103 - An Iranian Series about Jews and Hollywood Cinema Excerpts
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/103.htm
MEMRI TV Clip #88 - An Iranian Series about Jews and Hollywood Cinema - Steven Spielberg
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/88.htm
MEMRI TV Clip #84 - An Iranian Series about Jews and Hollywood Cinema - Woody Allen
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/84.htm
Endnotes:
[1] Press TV (Iran), March 2, 2009.
[2] Entekhab (Iran), March 1, 2009; Fars, Tehran Times (Iran), March 2, 2009.
[3] Kayhan ( Iran), March 2, 2009.
