I Accepted an Award for a Jailed Iranian Filmmaker
Posted by ashley on Friday, May 21, 2010 in Author • Gary Rubin - Senior Vice President, Cohen Media Group, Veteran Film Distributor • Film Blogs • (2) Comments • Permalink •
During the Cannes Film Festival, recent news about the imprisoned Iranian director Jafar Panahi came into the spotlight when the Iranian government stated that he would be released. Concurrently, rumors circulated that not only was that not going to be true, but in fact, Panahi would soon begin a hunger strike. This brought to mind a memory from my tenure at October Films in the mid- 90's.
October Films, one of the preeminent art and specialty distribs from that time period, released Panahi's "The White Balloon". October was a very New York-centric company, and the LA office consisted of four of us, of which I was the most senior in title. When Panahi's film was nominated for a minor award, no one from NY was to come out to accept, and he certainly wasn't coming from Iran. Therefore, I was nominated to potentially accept an award I had nothing to do with (an identical situation occurred with the Humanitus Prize and Mike Leigh, but that's another story). Needless to say, I didn't have the first idea of what to say.
The night before I was to potentially accept (we were still going against several other films, so the odds I wouldn't step on stage were pretty good), I called an old friend, who was about to marry a woman of Iranian descent. He put me on with her. I told her of my predicament. She inquired about the storyline of the film. When I told her that the film concerned a young girl's trials and tribulations during one New Year's Eve in Iran, the line went silent. Finally, I heard: "Gary? Tomorrow night is Iranian New Year's Eve!"
Again, needless to say, the film won. When I walked on stage I explained that Panahi could not be there that evening, and then also explained the irony of the New Year's Eves. "So Happy New Year, everyone," I closed with, and walked off the stage.
Wherever Panahi is, even though it is not New Year's tonight, he should have a happy one.
Note: on May 24th, Panahi was reportedly released by the government on bail.
Gary Rubin, President - First Independent Pictures , has over twenty years of experience in the motion picture and television businesses, having held an array of positions that cross the entire gamut of distribution, acquisitions, production and management. Prior to forming First Independent Pictures, Rubin served as Executive Vice President, Sales and Acquisitions, for Artisan Entertainment (since merged with Lion's Gate). Prior to that, Rubin was employed by October Films, (since merged with Focus Features), where he held the dual position of VP, Ancillary Distribution and Library Acquisitions, as well as Sr. VP, Millenium Films. Residing in Los Angeles/Santa Monica, Rubin teaches a course on the independent film business at UCLA. He graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Michigan.
