Valuable and lasting films are made by which producers and what role do they play?

by Saman Sadeghi

A look at the performance of one of the youngest producers and filmmakers of Iran’s national cinema, “Mehdi Moniri”.
Published in Film Magazine – No. 3231 (February 1400) “Lotria” directed by Ali Atshani and produced by Mehdi Moniri and a respected artist and a group of Mexican and American actors tells the story of a young man who decides to travel in order to reach the end ofthe world and live in the United States.The determination to migrate in this direction is faced with many strange events and difficulties,
which suddenly opens a new window for him through his eyes to see the world and also the land he came from. This ultimately leads to the face of this person with numerous and endless problems. His life is affected by various events and his personal circumstances undergo fundamental changes. So Lottery is a story. Again, the bitter story of migration, the loss of soil and homeland…
But in this area, we are going to talk about the art of production, and a producer who, instead of choosing a script that can be shot in front of the camera in the capital, around Tehran, or finally in the north and Gilan province, takes such a big risk and pays The outrageous costs make a movie on the other side of the planet.
Mehdi Moniri, producer; Lottery, the immigration crisis and the thinking that says it is leaving that needs a reason, not staying
In the description of Mehdi Moniri, it should be said that this work is his third fiction and cinematic work after “Paradise” and
“Paper Dream”. A film that was shot in 1400 in Mexico and is waiting for it to finally see the color of the silver screen.
As mentioned, the film “Paper Dream” is Mehdi Moniri’s second feature film as a producer. This young and promising producer had previously been able to attract the attention of critics with the acclaimed film “Paradise” by Ali Atshani. The story atmosphere governing the film of this deconstructive producer and its similarity to the daily events that happened in the life of a certain segment of our current and judgmental society, caused many opinions to be attracted to this film and impatiently waiting for its release and public screening.
“Paper Dream” which was made based on an idea of Mehdi Moniri himself, has a clear and unvarnished narrative of the south of the city, its youth and its deprived class people, each of whom does not even have a small share of the large sources of wealth production. As the script consultant and investor of this work, this producer showed that he is basically a stylish and enlightened producer in one of his most important filmmaking experiences in the cinema.
This producer with knowledge and good taste, who had previously proven himself in various films and television series,now appears again brilliantly in these two new films and, in fact, the most important and unfortunate issues of recent years in Iran and the world with visual tools. And it shows the audio of the cinema.The producer of the films Lotria and Roya Kaghazi definitely thinks significantly deeper than other producers of Iranian cinema. He has learned to gamble his capital in these genres by choosing very difficult and sometimes marginal themes. That is, at first glance, it is thought that Mehdi Moniri is putting his financial wealth under threat in the way of dealing with the most complicated human problems of the zist century and creating so-called artistic films, and that too in large numbers, but with a simple calculation, we can understand no. Not only that, but with an intelligent look, first of all, he climbs the top of important world festivals with his films, then he takes steps to gain profitable box office in theaters by exploiting the media and advertising news of those festivals.He has well understood that when he steps on the path in such a genre in the independent cinema of Iran, its stamp is forever stamped on hisforehead. Just like a director or producer who has consistently made works in the field of epic and defense cinema and achieved exemplary success, and now makes a social melodrama or a comedy film, even though it is good, it is attacked.But Mehdi Moniri is a smart producer. At the same time, by creating a pleasant narrative drama that mostly the masses of people feel familiar with, it ties the audience’s feelings to the story of the film and targets the audience’s emotions directly.
That’s why his films are often successful at the box office. To conclude this article, it should be said that “Mehdi Moniri” as a producer with an idea, undoubtedly from the beginning of entering the luxurious but eventful flow of the silver screen, decided to go for films that were made with a lot of public perception around him, be aligned.But at the same time, he tries as much as possible to hurt the emotions of the audience in his movies using the grammar of cinema and in this way, like a poet, he sings an ode to you and sings as fi you are the protagonist of those movies and sad stories. The painful social discourse that this producer raises in his films and often fuels it, mainly as a theory and ideology in the media space, becomes the most important discussion surrounding his works.