FROM DANTE TO GODARD; THE DIVINE COMEDY!

Ali Asgari, director of the Golden Orange International Feature Film Competition entry “Divine Comedy,” met with festival audiences after the screening. Asgari stated that Iranian culture is too great to be suppressed by censorship and said, “Nuri Bilge Ceylan is better known in Iran than he is in Turkey.”

Today, at the 62nd International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival's International Feature Film Competition section, Iranian director Ali Asgari's latest film, “Divine Comedy,” met with audiences.

The film, which had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, explores the quest for freedom, creativity, and justice through the story of a director struggling to complete his final work amid censorship. Drawing inspiration from Dante's Divine Comedy and featuring the ironic line, “Aren't you ashamed of Godard too?” the film's director, Ali Asgari, answered questions following the screening at the Atatürk Cultural Centre (AKM) Aspendos Hall.

The director, who stated that he drew inspiration from The Divine Comedy and the power of the word “no,” explained it as follows: “I wanted to show the power of the word ‘no’ and explain how saying ‘no’ can lead one from hell to heavenThroughout the film, there are many references to The Divine Comedy, but the point I focused on most was the power of saying ‘no’ to obstacles. I tried to evaluate the modern versions while remaining faithful to the original narrative. The Divine Comedy is actually a book that tells a tragedy in a comedic style; I used this as a reference. Comedy is perceived differently in our world today than it was when the book was written, but I approached comedy as ironic comedy."

When asked how he draws the line between comedy and real life, the director replied, “In Iran, there is no difference between real life and comedy.” “I didn't want to shoot a film about Iran outside of Iran, but we couldn't get permission to show the film in Iran either,” said Asgari, recalling that he had many problems with the Iranian government because of his previous film. Asgari noted that even though many films, including this one, are not allowed to be released in Iran, audiences find ways to access them. "These types of films can be watched in libraries and cafes. There is a very conscious film audience in Iran. Nuri Bilge Ceylan is perhaps better known in Iran than in Turkey. The director, who also explained the Turkish dialogue in the film with this cultural affinity, said: “The film was written based on my personal experiences and Behram's experiences. Behram is Turkish, and we wrote this film together. There are approximately 50 million Turks in Iran, but it is quite difficult to release a Turkish-language film.”