Iranian Film Dropped from Chinese Festival Over Censorship Claim – The Hollywood Reporter

Nader Saeivar’s Iranian drama No End has been dropped from the official selection of the Hainan Island International Film Festival in what filmmakers say was an act of censorship by Chinese authorities.

ArtHood Entertainment, which are handling world sales for No End, told The Hollywood Reporter they received a confirmation from the Hainan Island festival on November 19, that the Iranian drama had been picked for the event, to run in the main competition. The 2023 Hainan festival runs from Dec. 16-22 in the tropical resort city of Sanya in China’s southernmost province.

But this week, the festival has pulled the film, citing “political pressure and censorship laws of the Chinese government,” said ArtHood.

The Hainan festival is backed by the state-run China Media Group and the People’s Government of Hainan Province, under the guidance of the China Film Administration. The event’s competition jury this year includes international figures like Cannes regular Nuri Bilge Ceylan (About Dry Grasses), Iranian filmmaker Shahram Mokri (Fish & Cat) and French cinematographer Caroline Champetier (Holy Motors), along with major figures from the Chinese industry, such as actor-director Dong Chengpeng (Jian Bing Man) and actor Huang Xiaoming (The Message), among others. Past star attendees to the event, which appeared to be on the rise before the pandemic, have included Ethan Hawke, Johnny Depp, Jackie Chan, Aamir Khan, Nicolas Cage and Isabelle Huppert.

“[We] acknowledge the pressures that festivals under oppressive regimes face and applaud those that are able to maintain high artistic standards despite state censorship,” ArtHood said. “Nevertheless, [we are] disappointed and shocked by the decision of the authorities.”

The Hollywood Reporter reached out the Hainan Island festival via email for comment but has not received a response.

Seivar co-wrote No End with acclaimed dissident director Jafar Panahi. The award-winning filmmaker of Taxi, The White Ballon, The Circle, and No Bears, Panahi has continued to make movies despite receiving a 20-year ban in 2010 for alleged “propaganda” against the Islamic regime.

“I’m sorry that I can’t attend your festival,” Nader Saeivar wrote in an email to Hainan Island organizers, seen by The Hollywood Reporter. “I was eager to visit your beautiful city and have the opportunity to know the great culture of China better. However, I prefer not to attend a festival that practices censorship protocols. Such censorship measures have also banned the creation and distribution of many great movies in my home country. Also, the same view of art in my country has imprisoned many filmmakers and freedom seekers, including several female artists. Unfortunately, your festival has the same view of art and practices censorship principles. I deeply wish we can watch films created to improve justice and freedom in the world in a free festival in China.”

No End is the story of Ayaz, an honest, hardworking man who dreams of having a house of his own and invests every penny he makes into the construction of his future home, while comfortably living off the money sent to his mother-in-law by her son, who has been living abroad for many years in exile. When the son is suddenly given permission to return, Ayaz tries to stop it by staging a search of his house to scare him off. His plans work too well: Iran‘s actual secret service catches wind of the search and turns its attention to Ayaz, with disastrous consequences.

ArtHood Films and Saeivar are currently in post-production on their next film, also co-written by Saeivar and Panahi, which, ArtHood said, is “as much, if not more, political [than No End],” criticizing the authoritarian regime of Iran and “carrying the banner for human rights.”

Patrick Brzeski contributed to this report.