Tehran, Dec 10 (IANS/AKI) Shirin Neshat is leading a new generation of Iranian filmmakers who are creating films that may never be screened in their own country.
Neshat, who won the coveted Silver Award at the Venice Film Festival this year for her directorial debut "Women Without Men", has become increasingly critical of the politics in her country.
Her award-winning film examines the 1953 political coup, backed by British and American interests, that supplanted Iran's democratically elected government with a monarchy.
Inspired by a novel by Shahrmush Parsipur, the film has been banned in Iran because it is considered offensive.
"I chose it because he has one foot in the world of magic and another in the story. It takes place at a crucial time in our history, in 1953, when a coup d'etat caused the collapse of democracy," Shirin Neshat told an Italian magazine recently.
"But it's also an 'idealistic garden', a symbol, in which the three main characters can fulfil their dreams and desires for freedom."
Neshat has become one of the most well-known Iranian visual artists outside her country.
While she lives in New York, she addresses a global audience and has become progressively more outspoken against the regime in Tehran.
"If you are an Iranian artist today it is almost impossible to avoid adopting a position, being involved politically is natural since whatever you do, you are treated as a criminal," she said.
"It is the first time since I left that I feel a sense of community, I receive thousands of messages a day on Facebook supporting my work. I want to make myself heard even more."
Hana Makhmalbaf's film "Green Days" is a tale of a young Iranian woman caught in a political storm after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's controversial June re-election.
It too was screened at the Venice Film Festival and provoked a political debate.
Makhmalbaf was forced to edit the film at a secret location in Italy just before the festival opened to avoid Iranian censorship.
"I am not a sociologist, I used film like a mirror to Iranian society, as it is undergoing a revolution, revealing its doubts and hopes: like an adolescent, we have to make mistakes in order to reach our goals," she said.
The film focuses on a theatre actress who undergoes psychoanalysis to fight depression and then finds fresh hope on the streets of Tehran when she gets involved in reformist protests.
Iran intensified its crackdown on political opponents Tuesday as pro-government militias stormed the grounds of Tehran University and attacked students who gathered to protest.
Ahmadinejad won a disputed election in June, provoking the most intense demonstrations in Iran in decades.