- Introduction
The right to theater and cinema activities is part of the Right to Participate in Cultural Life[1] and also can be related to the Freedom of Opinion and Expression. Human international law doesn’t accept any discrimination between men and women to benefit from Cultural rights and participate in Cultural Life.[2] Therefore, all individuals irrespective of their sex can freely carry out theater and cinema activities. There is a wide range of theater activities, the most important of which include acting, direction, drama writing, and stage design, and also for cinema, acting, direction, script, and produce. Regarding it, we look at the status of women’s right to theater and cinema activity in Iran.
- Approach of the Laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Women’s Right to Theater and Cinema Activities
According to Principle 20 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, men and women equally enjoy all political, economic, social, and cultural rights. Also, Principle 21(1) states that the government must make favorable conditions for the development of a woman’s personality and the restoration of her material and spiritual rights; Also, Islamic standards must be respected in fulfilling Cultural rights.
On the other hand, Iran has ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and voted for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; Iran is obliged to respect all the rights accepted in these documents that also are accounted as the custom rules and essential rights.
Except for the Constitution and international and human rights obligations, the Charter of Citizen Rights 2016[3] (as the Statement of the then-president) Article 27 states all people have the right to artistic creations. Article 103 declares:
It is the right of all citizens, especially women, to form their own social, cultural, and artistic associates and organizations while enjoying participation and presence in public spaces and centers.
It isn’t seen what, the laws of Iran at the high level say about the right to theatre activity, but there are regulations and executive by-laws about theater and cinema which ascertain the conditions of how a show must be. Inter alia:
- Performing arts policies (2000), Approved by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution[4]
- Rules for supervising the performance of the show and issuing the license (2000), Approved by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution[5]
- executive by-laws for the performance of the show and issuing the license (1992), Approved by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance[6]
- executive by-laws for supervising the showing of films, slides, and videos and issuing a license to show them (1983), Approved by the Cabinet[7]
Conformably to the above, women’s right to theater and cinema activities is reserved under General and fundamental rules and there are no rules that prohibit it, against human international law.
- Latest Statistics
- A) Theater
For example, 18 plays have been staged in the Shahrazad Theater campus of Tehran from October 29, 2023, to January 19, 2024. The total number of female actors in these performances is 54. The directors of the 3 shows were also women.[8]
City Theater is the most important place for theater performances in Tehran that have special place to other places. For example, 24 shows have been staged in its three selected halls (main hall, Charso, and Qashqai hall) from December 22, 2021 to December 27, 2022. We can see some facts below:[9]
- The total number of actresses in these shows is about 131 people; Meanwhile, the show Dr. Noon loves his wife more than Mossadegh, has had 17 female actors, and the show My Fair Lady has been staged with 24 actresses.
- Approximately 166 women worked in positions such as director, assistant, stage designer, make-up artist, musician, photographer, director of public relations, etc.
- B) Cinema
According to the Report of the High Council for Human Rights on 2021-2022, 903 Iranian women filmmakers have artistic activities. [10]
A look at the statistics of films being screened in Iranian cinema on February 18, 2024, shows that a total, of about 63 main female actors have played roles alongside approximately 140 male main actors. In some of these films, women are protagonists.[11]
[1] Roger O’Keefe, ‘Cultural Life, right to Participate in, International Protection’ (November 2020) in Professor Anne Peters and Professor Rüdiger Wolfrum (eds), Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (online edn), para.7
[2] For example, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Articles 1,3 and 13(C)), the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (Articles 2(2), 3 and 15(a)) and Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Articles 22 and 27).
[3] Available at https://www.president.ir/fa/96859 (in Persian), Last visit on February 18, 2024
[4] Available at https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/100679 (in Persian), Last visit on February 18, 2024
[5] Available at https://www.qavanin.ir/Law/PrintText/99045 (in Persian), Last visit on February 18, 2024
[6] Booklet of rules and regulations of cinematographic organization, p.79, Available at https://apf.farhang.gov.ir/ershad_content/media/image/2019/07/774347_orig.pdf (in Persian), Last visit on February 18, 2024
[7]. Available at https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/106928 (in Persian), Last visit on February 18, 2024
[8] Available at https://shahrzadtheater.ir/events/ (in Persian), Last visit on February 18, 2024
[9] Available at https://city.theater.ir/Stage-plays/fa (in Persian), Last visit on February 18, 2024
[10] Report of High Council for Human Rights on 2021-2022, p.83, Available at https://brussels.mfa.ir/files/belgium/Human%20Rights-fa.pdf, (in Persian), Last visit on February 18, 2024
[11] According to the website of Cinema Ticket on February 18, 2024, Address: https://cinematicket.org/