Avevamo pubblicato su Stanze di Cinema il 2 marzo scorso le laconiche dichiarazioni di Kiarostami, rilasciate al Corriere, sull’impossibilità di immaginare un cambio di regime nell’Iran di Ahmadinejad e sulla profonda disillusione riguardo alla politica riformista nel suo paese.
L’8 marzo il famoso regista ha invece coraggiosamente scritto una lettera aperta, pubblicata su un quotidiano di Teheran, chiedendo la liberazione dei colleghi Jafar Panahi e Mahmoud Rasoulof, imprigionati dal regime la scorsa settimana.
Il New York Times ha pubblicato la traduzione integrale. Ecco i passaggi più significativi:
I don’t quite know to whom I am addressing this letter, but I do know why I’m writing it and I believe that under the circumstances it is both critical and inevitable because two Iranian filmmakers, both of whom are vital to the Iranian wave of independent cinema, have been incarcerated.
As a filmmaker of the same independent cinema, it has been years since I lost hope of ever screening my films in my country.
Filmmaking is not a crime. It is our sole means of making a living and thus not a choice, but a vital necessity.
However, others, like Jafar Panahi, have for years tried to summon official government support, exploring the same frustrating path, only to be confronted with the same closed doors.
I may not be an advocate of Jafar Panahi’s radical and sensational methods but I do know that the cause for his plight is not a result of choice but an inevitable [compulsion].
Jafar Panahi and Mahmoud Rasoulof are two filmmakers of the Iranian independent cinema, a cinema that for the past quarter of a century has served as an essential cultural element in expanding the name of this country across the globe. They belong to an expanded world culture, and are a part of international cinematic culture. I wish for their immediate release from prison knowing that the impossible is possible. My heartfelt wish is that artists no longer be imprisoned in this country because of their art and that the independent and young Iranian cinema no longer faces obstacles, lack of support, attention and prejudice.
This is your responsibility and the ultimate definition of your existence.
Stanze di Cinema 