Movie theaters in Iran to reopen tomorrow
TEHRAN – (Iranart)- Movie theaters will resume activities today after a four-month-long closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Peyman Qasemkhani’s comedy “Good, Bad, Garish 2: The Secret Army” and Mohammad Kart’s directorial debut “Butterfly Swimming” are the two films announced to hit the silver screens.
However, Rasul Sadr-Ameli, the producer of “Butterfly Swimming”, said on Friday that the film will not go on screen until appropriate conditions promised for screening would be provided.
Starring Sam Derakhshani, Pejman Jamshidi, Hamed Komeili and Reyhaneh Parsa, “Good, Bad, Garish 2: The Secret Army” is a sequel to Qasemkhani’s 2017 comedy film “Good, Bad, Garish” about a film director who has to use two superstars for his new film contrary to his desires.
“Butterfly Swimming” tells the story of Hashem, a gang member whose wife’s swimming video goes viral. Now Hashem and his brother-in-law Hojjat are looking for the person who uploaded the video on the net.
In a meeting held at the Coronavirus Combat and Prevention Headquarters in early June, President Hassan Rouhani said that movie theaters and concert halls would resume activities with 50 percent of their capacity.
The Cinema Organization of Iran had announced earlier that movie theaters in the so-called “white areas” or regions with no coronavirus hospitalizations in the past two weeks were allowed to reopen.
The cinemagoers were told to observe social distancing, while the employees were asked to wear face masks and plastic gloves.
Fever tests before entering the cinemas, frequent sanitization of the halls and public restrooms, as well as the screening of a video on how to protect oneself from the coronavirus before the feature film are also among the regulations required by the headquarters.
In a letter sent earlier to President Hassan Rouhani, the Association of Iranian Theater Owners asked for the coronavirus restrictions on cinemas to be lifted, and called for a reopening of theaters across the country based on health protocols during the pandemic.
In addition, the Cinema Organization of Iran has recently announced that Iranian cineastes can resume their activities in the near future.
The Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Seyyed Abbas Salehi announced that the coronavirus outbreak in Iran would cause an estimated loss of over 9,700 billion rials (Over $230 million) in the art and culture sectors by April 19, the end of the first month of the Iranian calendar year.
He had made the remarks in a report sent to President Hassan Rouhani and several other high-ranking officials, including the head of the Planning and Budget Organization, and asked for urgent support for people working in numerous vulnerable jobs in the various sectors.
source: Tehran Times