Avash: Farhadi spoke about Iran’s image in the world’s mainstream media, the relation between cinema and politics, his new movie and the reasons for transferring the project “Parallel Stories” from the US to France.
Farhadi, who is at the Rio Film Festival for his new movie, talked about the domination of US cinema and the reason why Hollywood must not be regarded as a source for presenting a precise and loyal image of other cultures to other countries.
Answering a question about the success of “Argo” and earning the prize for Best Film at the Academy Awards, about a year after “A Separation,” directed by Farhadi, had received the Best Foreign Language Film award, he said that he watched the movie when it was screened and that he had felt that he was facing “Hollywood.”
“Argo” is about an expert – Ben Affleck – in helping people to exit Iran.
The problem with the US and “Argo”
Farhadi said that the problem with this kind of movie and some people in the United States is that they view the world from a position of superiority. He said that one day you should ask them, “Why do you feel you are in a higher position and we are down? I do not understand their arrogance that causes them to think they are in a higher position regarding others.”
Americans lack democracy
Farhadi said that most Americans claim they have democracy, but it is not true. “You do not have democracy. It is a lie.”
Farhadi then recalled the days when he was living in the US to work on a project, and then he went to San Francisco for a project to talk to a number of male prisoners.
He said, “In jail I met people who were black, and some of them had come from other countries; the real US was there. But the world does not see this part of the US.”
“I have a problem with this issue that they feel they are in a higher position and think that others must be like them. Even if they have a good intention, they wish you would become like them one day. I do not want to be like you.”
Farhadi continued that “Argo” is not a “deep movie.” “They make these movies for money; it is a trade. There is always a white man from the United States in these movies who saves others. I raise a question: why? Why does an American go to Cuba or Iran to save people? People know themselves what to do; who requested you to come and save us?”
When asked how he addresses politics in his movies, Farhadi said: “Whenever you talk about society, you are in fact talking about policy. Even when you talk about their family life, relations, difficulties and problems, you are indirectly talking about policy.”
He added that “I try not to talk directly about politics in my movies because in my view, politics – in a direct form – is almost far from cinema. The cinema I believe in is a cinema that provides space for the audience to be able to discover things about oneself.”
Kiarostami’s “Citizen” is Iran’s most political movie
Farhadi then referred to “Citizen” [Hamshahri in Persian], by Abbas Kiarostami, and described it as “Iran’s most political movie.”
This documentary, made in 1983, broadly shows drivers in the capital city of Iran. Farhadi said: “He made a documentary about drivers in Tehran, but when you see people and how they talk to police, you find many political layers in the film.”
“Media and cinema do not give a complete image of people’s daily lives. Cinema has been based on hatred and love. And when it comes to talking about hatred and love, everywhere it is the same. Love between mother and child is the same in Brazil and Tehran. They are expressed in different ways, but the core is the same.”
“When you watch a Brazilian movie, very soon you forget you are watching a movie from another part of the world and feel that this film is about us as humans,” he said.
Farhadi said that “If people can travel to other countries and shake hands, it would be the best way to know people – not through media,” he said, adding that he did not believe that media could portray a full image to us.
The Iranian film-maker said that his last two movies, “Champion” and “A Parallel Story,” are about how we see others and how they see us. He also said that these works are affected by “the way social networks have shaped our social lives.”
He said that most of the information on Iran which is released in mainstream media is produced based on very little and simple information about the real life in these countries.
“When a single narrative is constantly being produced and stabilized, it means that people become ready to accept the notion that they are enemies. It is something the media does, because the most powerful media belong to the most powerful people. It is a problem.”
