Culture Ministry lifts ban on “Separation of Nader and Simin”

The decision to lift the ban was made by Deputy Culture Minister for Cinematic Affairs Javad Shamaqdari and Culture Ministry Supervision and Evaluation Office Director Alireza Sajjadpur, the public relations department of Shamaqdari’s office announced in a press release on Saturday.

Shooting of the film, which is being directed by Asghar Farhadi, was scheduled to be resumed on Saturday.

The production license for “Separation of Nader and Simin” had been revoked by the Culture Ministry over Farhadi’s remarks at the 14th Iran Cinema Celebration on September 16.

Farhadi had criticized Iranian cultural policy for isolating a number of prominent cineastes, including Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Jafar Panahi, Bahram Beizaii, Amir Naderi, and Golshifteh Farahani.

He also wished that something would happen in such a way that would allow them to resume their professional activities in Iranian cinema.

The Culture Ministry accused Farhadi of advocating on behalf of the ‘counterrevolutionary’ Makhmalbaf and his family.

In an interview, Farhadi said last week that his remarks were misconstrued. He noted that he respects the productions by those filmmakers, but he doesn’t care about their political positions.

In another interview conducted on Friday, Farhadi had expressed hope that the problem would be settled due to his recent meetings with the Culture Ministry’s officials.