"This is not a movie": artistic evaluation of cinema in Iranian law

Censorship or auditing of movies is a previous intervention of the government in the freedom of artistic expression, which applies the red line before the release of the work. This is what is applied in Iran after the victory of the Islamic Revolution by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance based on the regulation of monitoring film screenings and issuing their screening licenses approved by the Government Board in 1361. In this regulation, along with various political, cultural, social, ethical and religious audits; There is a type of inspection that can be called artistic inspection, according to its rules, it is forbidden to show films that lack technical value and are artistic because they lead the audience's taste to decadence and vulgarity. During this research, the aforementioned evaluation has been analyzed in the context of art concepts and its approaches, and the result shows that this evaluation, unlike other types which is content, considers the form and considers the artistic and cinematic values ​​of the work. A matter that has abandoned the identification of art through the artist and the artistic community and has chosen beauty: that is, an internal criterion and taste, and a choice that, in addition to choosing the prescriptive approach of art, is looking for a line to distinguish cinema from non-cinema. This basis is manifested in the meaningful and approved regulations of the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution and the result is that the Ministry of Culture and its councils sit instead of critics and experts of cinema and the people. An endless road that opens the way for a wide and uncontrolled audit depending on the taste and policies of the ministry.