Art And Culture
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Guidance Ministry Ready to Limit Role in Cultural Affairs

Guidance Ministry Ready to Limit Role in Cultural Affairs
Guidance Ministry Ready to Limit Role in Cultural Affairs

Reducing government role in affairs of the state and execution of programs is among the priorities of the administration through greater devolution of the functions on the private sector, and efforts have been made in this direction since the Rouhani government took office, said Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ali Jannati at the unveiling ceremony of the 'Access System to Visual Resources' of the 33rd Fajr Film Festival on Saturday (Jan 17).

The cultural scene including film, theater, and music festivals as well as book and digital media fairs are important events wherein the ministry should only be involved in the process of policy making, programming, and supervision, Jannati said according to the public relations office of the ministry of culture and Islamic guidance

“We have declared our readiness to transfer the festivals and fairs (to the private sector) and successfully have done it in the case of the digital media fair,” the minister noted.

Elaborating on the measures taken by the ministry in the field of cinema and film industry during the last 16 months, he pointed out that the “House of Cinema, which was closed during the previous government’s tenure, was reopened last year; new cinema halls have been added to the number of cinema theaters in the country; and a total of 330 cinema halls have been equipped with digital systems.”

  Profitable Year

Based on what the minister called “the public effect and result of all the steps taken,” local cinema has seen a profitable year at the box office, with some movies grossing a million dollars, and pulling more audiences to the darkened halls, compared to several years in the previous decade.

In addition, Iranian cineastes have enjoyed support under the new initiatives taken by the Rouhani government, as several veteran filmmakers, whose works and ideas were not approved by the earlier administrators, are back as patrons of cinema with their new films.

Referring to the movies which have faced trouble over public screening, the minister clarified that the remnants of the previous policies still exist; however, he emphasized that with the new policies, “the ministry will try to allow screening of all films which have received production or screening permits.”

 

Financialtribune.com