Iranian of the Day

AP — One of Iran's most prominent film directors said Monday he hoped the Golden Globes award to a fellow filmmaker will help lift the spirits of the country's artistic community after the state-ordered closure of an independent cinema group. Abbas Kiarostami lauded the "unique success" of writer-director Ashgar Farhadi for "A Separation," which won the best foreign-language film award Sunday at the Golden Globes ceremony in Beverly Hills, California. Kiarostami told The Associated Press it was a bittersweet moment after authorities ordered the closure Jan. 4 of the House of Cinema, an independent film group that operated for 20 years.

Officials said it lacked the proper permits, but artists and others claimed it was a political decision, because the group often took liberal stands contrary to government's cultural policies. "A Separation" tells the story of a couple heading for divorce and dealing with domestic troubles with a young child and an aging parent. It examines gender, religious and class distinctions in contemporary Iran. Amir Esfandiari , an official in the Farabi Film Foundation affiliated with the country's culture ministry, offered congratulations to Farhadi and wished the film success as a possible Oscar candidate, the semiofficial Isna news agency reported. The Fars news agency said that the film will play for an extra week in a Tehran cinema. It had been shown in Iranian movie houses over the past months >>>