by Farshad Ghaemian

How it would be if because of great perseverance and efforts and of course, the adventures of one of the producers of the Iranian cinema, we here take a closer look at his activities and evaluate his performance with a detailed overview?   

Ehsan Valipourzand; The Controversial Producer of These Days of Cinema…    

A Producer is actually the owner of a cinema project and supplying the entire financial and non-financial equipment and facilities required to make a film is his/her main responsibility. It should be noted that cinema has various dimensions and aspects. To make a film at a filmmaking studio or company, all factors have to cooperate with each other so that a qualified film will be made. But one of the most important tasks of producing a movie is financing it and no work will be ever created unless the capital is available and supplied to make that film. 

Since supplying the budget needed for producing a movie is the duty of a cinema producer; therefore, he pays the money for filmmaking himself or finds an investor and it can be claimed that supplying all required facilities to produce a cinema movie is the duty of a film producer. 

By this explanation we aim to have an overview on the vast area of cinematic activities of a producer named Mr. Ehsan Valipourzand who despite being young, can provide large resources to create his cinematic, cultural and artistic products, which leads to production of exceptional, expensive and costly films and often supplies these funds from his own financial resources.

Loteria; Ehsan Valipourzand and the Risk of Producing a Costly Film at the Farthest Locations of the World      

When he decided to make this movie, the subject was so sensitive that naturally the authorities didn’t let him show whatever he liked. Nonetheless, he applied all of his efforts to remain far away from the usual stereotypes in official conversations regarding the subject and its relevant areas in addition to using a past experience in getting closer to a cinematic form in movie: “Paper Dream”, a very short but significant and remarkable distance. 

In spite of this fact, some of the critics who watched the film in private release were not much satisfied about the film by a pre-assumption about it to be a political propaganda. Instead, a group of serious audiences and critics were impressed by the movie. The story was about an Iranian immigrant in recent years who decides to leave Iran and migrate together with his wife when they couldn’t tolerate the difficult economic condition in their country.

On their dream way to USA, they land in Mexico and this is just the beginning of their story. Despite all the rumors, the newest and latest film made by Ehsan Valipourzand as the creator of an idea and the producer of Loteria movie was remarkably noticed in the market and it had many consequences for its external value, too.              

The path on which Ehsan Valipourzand has stepped during these years -from a documentary to a historical drama and from a historical drama to a contemporary story- was a long road that this producer passed within a decade after entering the cinema. His second film “Along City” was no less troublesome, too. Either at the pre-production stage that it took several months to get a license and eventually the controversies led to multiple changes in the screenplay or at the production stage that its cinematography in different locations and places was problematic for several times and the important locations of the film were changed or even after the release that was followed by a lot of controversy and misunderstanding.  

By taking a deeper and closer look at the cinematic form based on which Ehsan Valipourzand makes his movies, it should be noted that the stories of his films goes on mainly up to the middle, similar to the street films of the 1350s (1972 to 1980), then it approaches the theme and discourse that more reminds you of the early years in 1380s (2002-2010) and finally, it is in the form of a full up-to-dated political statement one can give it up without negotiation and debate. His movies are mostly faced with extreme and sharp reactions, both in text and in hypertext, but the audience is well satisfied with the result.

Among the sound and the fury of different media and press, the fact that Ehsan Valipourzand’s movies are noticeably attracting the attentions being individual and independent either in Iran or at foreign festivals and releases is a significant point. Ultimately, the result of all of what happened to his works was that Ehsan Valipourzand -at least as a literate and knowledgeable producer- is well aware of the form and aesthetics in the seventh art of cinema. He has proved his abilities. Although in the media atmosphere, he is known for his particular tendencies beyond being a nonconformist filmmaker.         

But what has been always important is the fact that Ehsan Valipourzand, as the main ideologist of his movies, even criticizes his own previous perspectives in his past films in some newer works such as “Paper Dream”.

“Shark (Kooseh)” was one of the most significant movies of the 39^th festival that faced with conflicting reactions more than before. Absolutely, some of his movies like “The President’s Cell Phone” and “Along the City” were not enough to remove the dependency label from this producer and this time he decided to completely separate himself from such constant labels, assumptions and pre-judgments by making a film in the critical comedy genre.         

The core idea of the movie was so pristine, brand-new and sharp that it attracted the attention of many critics and even the politicians after the main theme of the story was disclosed and covered and published by cinema websites and publications. And when the film was made, it practically developed the ever style of Valipourzand-Atshani fundamentally in a comedy atmosphere in addition to utilizing a screenplay with an extraordinary structure. The film was expected to be ignored by the festival jury members and then, we had to wait for the public release and the audience’s reaction. Of course, whether or not the subject matter of the film remains significant and influential until the release time was a separate issue.  

To put an end to this article it should be noted that Ehsan Valipourzand as an idealistic film producer, from the beginning of his entry to the luxurious but eventful flow of the cinema’s silver screen, decided to make films that are not on the same train with the common public attitudes and beliefs grown up around him.    

He has tried to focus on the lives of ordinary people, their wounds and pain they receive from the injustice. While this young producer makes efforts as much as possible to remain faithful and royal to the cinematic grammar of his previous works, but he shoots at the audience’s emotions at his latest films and in this way, he creates a painful lament that you can hardly resist. 

The painful social dialogue and political allusions to the extremist movements that can be seen in his movies which are in some cases strongly to the favor of Ehsan Valipourzand‘s previous works, are clearly not far from his ideology and the same fact is the most important discussion about his films in the media atmosphere.