On the subject of "Stories of Human Dignity in Film: Focus on Iranian Cinema" INTERFILM , in co-operation with the Associazione protestante del cinema "Roberto Sbaffi" (INTERFILM’s corporate member in Italy) and hosted by the Fondazione Ente dello Spettacolo, the Catholic Italian film organisation, organised an ecumenical panel at the 66th Mostra internazionale d’arte cinematographica in Venice on September 9th. Chaired by Peter Ciaccio, managing director of "Roberto Sbaffi", Iranian born directors Shirin Neshat and Babak Payami together with film critics Peter Malone (Australia) and Heike Kühn (Germany) discussed the possibilities of Iranian cinema to reveal human desires and sufferings in a country ruled by an authoritarian religious regime. The repression of the protests against the official election results in June with demonstrators murdered and opposition leaders arrested and forced to self accusations proved the actuality of the issues in question.

Shirin Neshat, awarded with a Silver Lion for Best Direction for her competition entry "Women Without Men" at the end of the festival, as well as Babak Payami, winner of the Golden Lion in 2001 for his "Secret Ballot", both stated to be artists but not politicians. By emphasizing this distinction, they nevertheless realize their work to assume a political dimension by simply being truthful to the lives and identity of their fellow citizens. Living in exile, Neshat in the USA, Payami in Italy, and thus sharing the experience of a number of well-known Iranian film artists, they commented deeply pessimistic on the perspectives of improvements in Iranian society, all the more by films telling stories of human dignity. Facing censorship, marginalisation and oppression, film artists increasingly are unable to communicate their true intentions and observations within the country.

The actual situation given, Heike Kühn and Peter Malone expressed their admiration of the achievements of Iranian film makers in the past. Although facing political control, they managed to portray the shortcomings of the Islamic Republic either by metaphorical narratives or later, under the reformist presidency of Mohammad Khatami, even in a neorealistic style, so Heike Kühn in her appreciation of Iranian cinema. Its artistic virtues have been rewarded by numerous prizes at festival all around the world, as well as by critical acclaim by the public abroad. Peter Malone, former president of the World Catholic Association for Communication SIGNIS and member of the SIGNIS jury in Venice complemented this perspective by observations from the Fajr Festival in Teheran where he served in the Catholic/Muslim Interfaith Jury for several times. As in example he mentioned films on the war between Iran and Iraq which constantly attract the attention of Iranian audiences but never got known outside the country.

Peter Ciaccio closed the panel by quoting the dedication at the end of Shirin Neshat’s "Women Without Men": "The film is dedicated to the memory of those who lost their lives in the struggle for freedom and democracy in Iran - from the Constitutional Revolution of 1906 to the Green Movement of 2009." If films cannot claim to push forward political changes, they remain faithful to human dignity by bearing in remembrance human hopes, efforts and defeats.

The panel resumed the first INTERFILM presence at the Mostra del cinema in 2008, dedicated to the cinema in China.

Download the announcement of the event here.

See also the presentation of Heike Kühn in the Forum section.