On September 8, the Iranian-Canadian co-production "Ava" premiered worldwide at the Toronto International Film Festival. Unfortunately, neither of the two lead actors, Mahour Jabbari, 17, and Shayesteh Sajadi, 18, could not be on the scene. And the one who turned the two out was the Canadian government.
The visas of the two young actors in "Ava" were both denied by the Canadian government and could not participate in the premiere of the film.
"Ava" is about an Adolescent Iranian girl who struggles with her family, school, and society to free herself. The girl Ava and her friend Melody gradually discover that although there are many rules and regulations in life, life is not completely hopeless.
The Iranian girls in the movie try to break through the unreasonable restrictions brought by family, customs, religion, and society, but the Iranian girls outside the movie are facing barriers that cannot be broken. As for the two actors not being able to attend the premiere, director Sadaf Foroughi said in an interview with the media: "I thought I could celebrate our premiere with them, but I was very disappointed. ”
The heroine Ava is played by 17-year-old Maul Jabari.
According to Flukee, after the visas of the two lead actors were denied, the organizers of the Toronto International Film Festival came forward to contact the Canadian government and added relevant documents on the basis of the original invitation letter, hoping that the government could raise its hand and allow the two to enter, but there was still no following.
It is reported that Canada does not have an embassy in Iran, so the two young actors submitted an application for a tourist visa through the Canadian Embassy in Turkey, and both received a refusal letter: "You can't convince me that as a temporary sojourner, you will leave Canada as scheduled after the trip." In making the decision to refuse the visa, we considered a number of factors, including your past travel experience, your family relationship in Canada and your close relatives in Iran, as well as the purpose of this trip, your current employment situation, etc. I don't think you have enough money — including regular income and fixed assets — to complete this trip and leave the country on schedule. ”
Abbas, the famous director who died last year, was also denied entry by the U.S. government in 2002.
In this regard, director Flucky said that she could not understand that there was nothing suspicious about the purpose of the two people's travel, and the Canadian government's move really surprised her.
The Hollywood Reporter said in an article commenting on the incident: "This incident may be embarrassing to the Canadian government, after all, Canada has long been regarded as an open-minded country, and the current prime minister, Justin Trudeau, often compares himself with US President Trump to deny the travel ban issued by the other side against citizens of six countries, including Iran." Ironically, Shadaf Fruki, an Iranian-born director who has long lived in Montreal, said he had just been to the United States last week and had no problems entering and leaving the country.
Asfa Farhati refused to attend the Oscars this year because of Trump's "ban on Muhammad".
This is not the first time iranian filmmakers have "confronted" Western governments over visa issues. In 2002, the famous director Abbas Kiarostami was denied entry by the U.S. government and was unable to participate in the New York Film Festival. At this year's Oscars, Iranian director Asfa Farhati, who won the Oscar for best foreign language film for the second time with "The Salesman", refused to attend the Oscars because of Trump's "ban on Muhammad".
It's just that for these two famous and big directors who have traveled north and south, missing a film festival and award ceremony may not have much impact. For Maul Jabari and Sajadhi, who appeared in the film for the first time, missing the premiere of their debut film was a major regret in their lives.