‘Boarding Pass’ Poster Artist Accuses ‘Flatliners’ of Plagiarism

Date: 22 October 2017 - 20:58

News ID: ۴۵۵۶۶

TEHRAN (MNA) – Poster designer Taha Zaker told Mehr News that the film poster for American Sci-Fi ‘Flatliners’ bears a strong resemblance to Iranian film ‘Boarding Pass’, adding he will file a complaint against Sony Pictures if the plagiarism is proved.
Speaking to Mehr News correspondent on Sunday following speculations about the resemblance of his poster for ‘Boarding Pass’ – a 2017 Iranian drama directed by Mehdi Rahmani – to an American Sci-Fi film ‘Flatliners’ by Niels Arden Oplev, Taha Zaker said he would soon file a complaint against Sony Pictures for plagiarizing his poster design.
"I designed the poster for ‘Boarding Pass’ back in 2016 before the 35th edition of Fajr Film Festival went underway, but the film was not accepted into the screening program of the festival so the poster did not get a chance to be unveiled at the time,” Zaker explained.
"Ultimately, the poster was sent to Berlin, Cannes and Venice film festivals in the form of a DVD cover. The film featuring my poster took part in Cannes film market and was displayed to the public then,” he added.
"On 13 June 2017, the poster and trailer for ‘Flatliners’ were unveiled, which was a few months after the participation of ‘Boarding Pass’ in Cannes film market,” Zaker said.
We have all the necessary documents and proof about the exact date of designing and unveiling the poster, as well as the date of its submission to the Berlin film festival, he added.
Zaker noted that the reason he had decided to look up the Flatliners’ poster was the accusations he received about his own poster being a copy of the American film; "I found it very interesting that the posters were very similar in terms of form and theme, but the artist has gone about the design differently,” he added.