I come from the Marrakech International Film Festival. And when the Gold Star was awarded last Saturday to the dark and moving Black Knight, by the young Iranian Emad Aleebrahim Dehkordi, we witnessed, as at the time of the presentation of his film, an infiltration of tragedy in the golden bubble of the convention center. Because the trembling and upset filmmaker could not really rejoice at the announcement of his price. He still felt with his family in Tehran, fighting the mullahs’ regime in the streets. And to dedicate his laurel to his companions and comrades in struggle, who shed their blood for freedom in his home.
Iranian feature films have been particularly sought after by Moroccan film buffs. This Black Knightwhich is about a bereaved and impoverished family, one of whose sons turns to drug trafficking to get by, resonated with local audiences, who are also Muslim and often busy simply surviving.
Of course, this film does not address the recent protests inflaming Iran. This is not the time to make movies. Everything is stuck there. By the way, who will want to finance tomorrow in this country the works covering the uprising of young people in revolt against the compulsory wearing of the veil and the contempt for human rights? Cultural repression will be as strong as that of morals. Unless the insurgents win their fight, by bringing down the government, which, for the time being, plays brutality. Throwing stones against machine guns. More than 70 dead in one week.
You can’t imagine the courage of these people. Sharing for a moment the emotion of those who do not know if they will still be alive tomorrow is an invaluable privilege. May they defeat the dark forces in their old Persia, which has seen snow on its mountains and seen many revolutions throughout its long history.
So, we also take our hat off to those Iranian athletes who refused to sing their national anthem in Qatar at the soccer World Cup. How do you think they will be received on their return, after making the mullahs lose their bearded face on TV screens around the world? Much like Emad Aleebrahim Dehkordi, his Gold Star under his arm, who has multiplied incendiary declarations in Morocco. Which is to say, very badly. Artists and athletes in front of planetary projectors can use their stands to launch a political message, but at what cost?
The country’s headliners can no longer be silent. Even Iranian double Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi (A separation, The customer) took the plunge during a sold-out master class in Marrakech. Challenged by many compatriots who accused him of being too fluid with the regime, he saw fit to reiterate his support for the street demonstrators since the death of Mahsa Amini, which occurred last September. This great creator said he was worried, but full of hope for the future: “Because I know that this fight will succeed. Iran will no longer be the same country. At these words, the applause from the floor echoed like thunder on scorched earth.
Does he want to share the fate of his compatriot Jafar Panahi, an activist filmmaker who languishes in Evin prison for “propaganda against the regime”? Not sure ! The time for lukewarm support is over, but how do you throw stones at those who tremble for their lives and their careers? We live so cozy here. And Farhadi now finds himself in trouble in Tehran, like so many other compatriots, fists raised.
Pure heroes are mysterious creatures. Thus, this Panahi, filmmaker from white balloon and Circle, banned from filming and traveling since 2010, since then has been making his films in hiding. His docufiction No Bears, launched in 2022 after his recent incarceration, crowned with the special jury prize at the Venice Film Festival, testified to his bitterness and an unprecedented exhaustion in the long-term brawler. In 2009, we already saw in Montreal this president of the jury at the World Film Festival wearing a green scarf in protest against the murder of an anti-regime demonstrator, Neda Agha-Soltan, 13 years before the assassination of Masha Amini. Still, today the Iranian revolt could bear fruit.
All this tumult rumbled in Marrakech, where I admired the solidarity of the Maghreb and Middle Eastern cultural milieu, regions whose political leaders are nevertheless fighting each other: Sunnis against Shiites and other passes of arms. Art bridges conflicts during a festival. But in times of crisis, how could it flourish? In Iran, the setbacks shed light on the fall of the last humanist ideals that had been struggling to survive the theocracy.