Iran: ‘Ballad of a White Cow’ Directors Banned from Travel
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Roshan Amiri
- . November 28, 2023
- . Update: November 28, 2023 11:06 am
Directors of Ballad Of A White Cow, Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghadam have been banned from traveling by the Iranian government. The duo also facing trial in regards to their upcoming film My Favorite Cake.
The film’s editor had his house raided by Iranian security forces, wherein they confiscated materials related to the production. My Favorite Cake has drawn flake from hard-liners in Iran as it’s about an aging woman and her life behind closed doors. It focuses on her life, her desires to live in a country where women’s rights are heavily restricted.
This film was one of the hot projects at the Berlinale Co-Production Market in 2020. It won the $21,000 Eurimages Co-production Development Award.
Iran Crackdown on Artists
Artists in Iran are facing tough times. The crackdown intensified during the ongoing Woman Life Freedom protests. But this isn’t the first time that Maryam Moghadam has found herself under the Iranian government’s scrutiny. She faced a similar travel ban in 2019. Moghadam, who holds Iranian and Swedish citizenship, was the lead actor in Jafar Panahi’s Closed Curtain. She was stopped from pursuing other roles in Iranian cinema on the orders of the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance.
Iran’s artistic community, for decades, has carefully navigated the country’s strict censorship rules banning certain portrayals of women and Islam. But Mahsa Amini’s death in Iranian police custody in September 2022 gave rise to the global #womenlifefreedom movement.
The Islamic Republic of Iran’s film watchdog warned producers in June that their movies could be banned if they hire actresses who remove their hijab in public, in support of anti-government protests.
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Ballad of a White Cow Just a Story
But Sanaeeha and Moghadam’s Ballad of a White Cow is not anti-government. It’s a story of a woman who discovers her executed husband was innocent of the charges against him. The Iranian government has charged the directors with propaganda against the regime and acting against national security. Sanaeeha and Moghadam were later acquitted of the charges, but their film remains banned in Iran.
Armin Miladi, Iranian Film Festival Director, said since September 2022, many filmmakers have ceased working. He highlighted that the government didn’t give permission for many of the films to be made. “It’s been such a difficult year for us, until even three, four months ago, I didn’t know if we could have a festival in terms of finding good films.”
The executive pointed out that if they get the government’s tick of approval to screen inside Iran, it can be misconstrued by some in the diaspora as filmmakers not being defiant enough of the regime.
