Iraj Raminfar, who received this year’s Crystal Simorgh as the best costume and stage designer at the Fajr festival, is convinced that the fields have not only not developed over the past few years but have even deteriorated.
He believes that stage designing is a profession and that those who want to work in the field must take special courses and gain experience, which he says is not happening, unfortunately.
“This field is open to everyone and they are all busy working. There are people who need to gain more knowledge and experience and must first begin as an assistant, but they are busy working, which is extremely dangerous and will create problems for them financially,” he added.
Mohsen Shah-Ebrahimi has the opposite view, saying that the art of stage design has developed in Iran over the past few years.
Stage and costume design is an artistic and industrial profession, he observed, adding that art is continuous creativity and industry has been developing, so the situation can not have become worse.
Shah-Ebrahimi, who is currently designing costumes and the stage set of the TV series “Mokhtar-nameh”, which is being directed by Davud Mirbaqeri, noted that the obstacles are mostly financial, which is a common occurrence in all areas of the film industry.
He stated that the main problem is the dearth of knowledge on the part of investors, adding, “The budget is estimated based on their old calculations, and when they decide on the final budget, they again face financial problems.”
Majid Mirfakhraii, who is famous for his huge stage sets, expressed regret that the profession is not realizing its true potential, adding, “The need for stage and costume design is greater than before these days, but it is not greatly respected compared to other fields of cinema. One must know that huge projects of historical films could not be imagined without stage and costume design.”
Malek-Jahan Khazaei who was the stage designer of this year’s Fajr festival entry “It’s Winter” directed by Rafi Pitz, explained that the elimination of state subsidies for cinema was the biggest blow for her and her colleagues, saying, “Due to the large budget cinema requires, producers were compelled to not hire professional designers for their films, and they only seek designers when they are making TV series.
“There are only a few films with private producers who seek professional designers. As for me, as one of the oldest (veterans) in this field who was hired for almost every good film, this is totally true.”
She received best stage design awards at the Fajr festival for the films “Zero Heights” and “Birth of a Butterfly”.
She said that other costs, such as the salaries of actors, have increased over the past few years, forcing producers to cut back in other areas.
RM/HG
END
MNA
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