Thursday, December 6, 2007

Oliver Stone seeks to film 'Ahmedinejad's Adventures'

from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2007, Issue No. 118
5 Dec 2007

Secrecy News Blog:  http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
 
OLIVER STONE SEEKS TO FILM "AHMADINEJAD'S ADVENTURES"

Filmmaker Oliver Stone is expected to visit Tehran in the near future
to negotiate arrangements for a film about Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, the Iranian press reported last week.

"We have announced that he has asked for permission to travel to Iran
for direct negotiations and to plan the project," one official told the
Tehran Times.

Stone first sought Iranian permission last summer to make the film,
variously referred to as "Ahmadijenad's Adventures" or "The Truth About
Ahmadinejad."  His initial request was denied, but was then reconsidered
and approved by the President himself "if certain conditions were met."

Among such conditions, the Tehran Times reported, "Stone would not be
allowed to invent any scenarios. [Instead,] he should only use
incidents from the president's real life in the film."

See "Oliver Stone may visit Tehran for Ahmadinejad biopic: Sajjadpur,"
Tehran Times, November 30:

     http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=158249

News about the proposed film project "has amazed and worried many
friends of Islamic Iran's honour and power and those concerned about
its reputation," according to one Iranian commentator.

"How can one trust a person... who, despite efforts at proclaiming
himself to represent the opposition in America's ruling system, is in
line and in accordance with the essence and the overall policies of
this system," wrote Elham Rajabpur in the conservative Tehran daily
Keyhan.

The writer objected to several of Stone's films including Alexander ("a
hated figure among Iranians") and The Doors (about "one of America's
perverted and half-mad singers").

"We are afraid that the outcome of [Stone's Iranian film] venture will
not be the true and realistic portrayal of an intellectual and a
peacemaker such as Ahmadinejad, but a portrayal of Ahmadinejad
according to Stone, Hollywood, and global Zionism."

See "Oliver Stone's Presence in Iran: Opportunity or Threat" by Elham
Rajabpur, Keyhan, December 3 (translated by the DNI Open Source
Center):

     http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2007/12/stone.html

No comments:

Post a Comment