Why a September 11 Screening?
Manouchehr Mohammadi, producer of the film, said that this awkward coincidence with September 11 has nothing to do with the film's distributors in Iran. He said that the film's rights abroad belong to its distributors in the United States and they made their own decisions regarding the release date.
Observers believe it would be naïve to overlook the decision of film's distributor for a September 11 release date, and rule out anything but a calculated American conspiracy connected with other political and propaganda games played against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Although we are a fan of just about all Hatamikia films -- including Low Altitude -- and have praised his works in this paper, we still wonder why should we allow our world-famous cinema be used against our country in this way? We have no objections to the films overseas screening, as much as we are against those who are shamelessly and deceitfully trying to use our love of movies against our country.
The movie ***Low Altitude*** is simply ravishing.
It is honest and talks about humans' forced emigration. That is why it was selected the best movie of the 20th Fajr Film Festival in Iran.
However, given the post-September 11 global mood, screening of this film is absolutely against the interests of our beloved country.
The U.S. administration has done its best to blacken the image of the Islamic Republic. This time, the American importers of this Iranian hijack-themed movie are trying to somehow connect the film with last year's terrorist attacks on Washington and New York. No doubt, their effort is doomed to fail since even a simple laborer - let alone intelligent moviegoers - can understand the evil intentions behind the screening date.
We sincerely hope that the American audiences will watch this film without any prejudice, pre-judgement, or narrow-mindedness that is always the aim, and sometimes the result of ceaseless U.S. government propaganda against Iran and other Muslim nations.