Entertainment > Documentary > DANCING WITH THE DEVIL BY DARIUS KADIVAR
Iran President Mulling Oliver Stone Film Request
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According to LA Times Correspondent Borzou Daragahi Filmmaker Oliver Stone, who has chronicled the lives of Richard Nixon and Alexander the Great, and known for his outspoken and insightful documentaries on Fidel Castro and Yasser Arafat has requested permission to make a documentary about controversial Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, an Iranian news agency reported Friday.
Iranian filmmaker Ali Reza Sajjadpour, who also serves as an official at Iran's Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization, told the semi-official Iranian Student News Agency that the president received the request to make the film several months ago. Obtaining permits for documentary film projects is a lengthy process in Iran, and Sajjadpour said Ahmadinejad was considering Stone's request.
'Stone is a professional filmmaker on social and political issues,' said Sajjadpour, praising the Oscar-winner for opposing U.S. foreign policy.
Stone directed the 2003 documentary 'Comandante,' about Cuban leader Fidel Castro, another controversial anti-American leader of a developing country. Some Iranians found his depiction of Persians in the 2004 'Alexander' offensive. In reality Alexander was Stone's worst Box office film failure and was also a critical disastor unlike his previous Bio Epics on JFK and Nixon or his excellent drama's such as Wall Street or Platoon.
Whether Oliver Stone intends or not to do a documentary on Ahmadinejad is a legitimate question to which it seems only the Iranian authorities seem to have the answer, given that no such news has been confirmed yet by Oliver Stone himself.
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Two questions intrigue me in regard to this would be film project:
- One is whether Ahmadinejad would actually meet the challenge of being filmed by one of Hollywood's most brilliant directors who behind his apparent genial smile can also tear his film's protagonist in pieces and reveal aspects of their personalities that would escape most observers. Any dictator as is the case of Ahmadinejad should be wary of thinking that they could outwit Stone on his territory: Film.
- The other is Oliver Stone's capacity in actually meeting this challenge in a way that would not turn this interview into another Mike Wallace type interview where Ahmadinejad clearly had the upper hand and avoided the major questions in regard to Human Rights abuses in Iran and other major issues in relation to the catasrophic record of the Iranian Theocracy. Stone is far more intelligent and manipulative to fall into such a trap but that will certainly be his challenge if ever his suggested intention of interviewing Iran's President is confirmed. His credibility as a documentary filmmaker as well as his political outlook on the current crisis between Iran and the United States will truly depend on his capacity of keeping control and independance in studying his film's protagonist.
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The role of any Artist or intellectual is to seek the Truth of our Times and sometmes denounce it or defend it. It is all right to Dance with the Devil as Stone does as long as he doesn't become the Devil's Advocate or be manipulated against his initial intentions.
On the otherhand, one can also ponder on President Ahmadinejad's pathological megalomania. To think that this little man (who is probably to most unpopular President this Regime ever had since its inception 28 years ago) actually considers himself so interesting and important a subject for a movie but whose regime keeps censoring the films of its own countries best directors is something of an oxymoron in itself.
Vive le Cinema can hardly rhyme with Censorship and Censors in this case ...
Recommended Reading:
Alexander is Back by Darius KADIVAR (iranian.com)
Hollywood Dream Merchants: Persian Props from Alexander Movie on Sale by Darius KADIVAR
IRANIAN DIRECTOR FACING CENSORSHIP BY DARIUS KADIVAR
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