Iranian actors Behnaz Jafari and Marziyeh Rezaei saw their lives mirrored in their roles in Jafar Panahi’s Se Rokh ( 3 Faces ) that is competing for the Palme D’Or at Cannes this year. Jafari plays herself, a popular star, while Rezaei, who is not a professional actor, plays a young, aspiring one who Jafari is searching for in the film along with her friend, filmmaker Panahi himself.
The impetus for the search: a MMS clip in which Rezaei pleads with Jafari to rescue her from her conservative family.
Mirroring the voiceless
Rezaei, an arts student for whom 3 Faces is her first brush with the movies, found resonance in the experiences of her friends pursuing acting as a career. “Their families didn’t want them to [act]. I wanted to become their voice. I wanted to express their messages. I wanted to say that there is nothing wrong about being an actress,” she said in a joint interview, in the company of her co-actor Jafari and the film’s editor Mastaneh Mohajer at the press terraces at the Palais de Festivals et des Congres de Cannes.
Jafari, who Indian cinephiles will remember from Samira Makhmalbaf’s Blackboards , said that she too faced familial opposition, “My mother didn’t want me to become an actor. I had to fight, lie...”
The 43-year-old actor studied dramatic literature and began her innings in theatre. Jafari’s way of tackling the stigma associated with performative arts was to demystify it for her family.
Taking a leaf out of her director’s book, Jafari invited her family to see one of her plays. Panahi who is famously transparent about his work, frequently invites authorities to watch his work. “There is no conspiracy. We are making films for the improvement of the society,” shared Jafari.
Panahi is obviously omnipresent; every question directed at the three women has a reply that mentions him. While the filmmaker was refused permission to travel to Cannes, it was his empty chair that got a standing ovation at the red carpet screening of 3 Faces at the Grand Theatre Lumiere. Jafari, Rezaei and Mohajer are his voices in absentia, preferring to talk about themselves in relation to him and the film. Rezaei looks at her own character as a reflection of Panahi, “He is voicing his own [artistic] concerns through the young woman. She has limitations to do what she wants to do, what she wants to become. [Panahi] has his limitations too,” declared Rezaei.
This is the fourth film ( This Is Not A Film , Closed Curtain and Taxi being the other three) that Panahi has made surreptitiously since the filmmaking ban imposed on him by the Iran government in 2010. One of the leading names of the Iranian New Wave cinema, who came into international prominence after winning the Camera D’Or award at Cannes in 1995 for The White Balloon , Panahi drew from a real life incident to make 3 Faces . “Everything started with a true story, a news report about a young girl committing suicide because her parents were against her becoming an actor. Panahi found it sad… It took him three years to work on all the details, mise en scene etc,” said Mohajer.
“In the previous films he had small cameras, hidden cameras, closed spaces, he didn’t get out much of those closed spaces. [With 3 Faces ] he got out in the open, to his maternal village. So he was protected there,” said Mohajer explaining his filmmaking method in the face of the ban. Panahi ended up using villagers as characters in the film, working with them in a way that they became part of the narrative
Risky business
Panahi has been in the eye of the storm with the state many times over. Doesn’t working with him expose the three ladies to risks as well? “Of course we are taking some risks. But as a film professional who can deny himself or herself [the opportunity] to participate in such a great artistic project?” asked Mohajer rhetorically. To protect everybody involved with his projects Panahi usually skips crew credits. This time it’s different. The crew specifically requested him to be acknowledged in the end credits. “He is making such great movies. Why not take credit for that? Enough is enough. We are proud of what he is doing,” declared Mohajer.
Jafari agreed, “How can I deny myself the opportunity to work with such a great filmmaker? It’s [acting] our profession. To work with Panahi is an honour.” She accepted the opportunity to work with him without reading the script and now lists it as among her best experiences as an actor.
Fighting feudalism
Deeply-entrenched patriarchy and the place of women in feudal society are themes pursued by the filmmaker. “Panahi has been emphasising that his films are not political but social. There is nothing against the authorities in them but about patriarchal authority. This is an artistic way of deconstructing the society,” said Jafari. Rezaei noted that Panahi is never confrontational, choosing instead to deal with patriarchy with humour. “He is going back to tradition and culture to understand it. It’s his return to his native village, to his roots... [He wants to] know [them] better. How can we imagine the future without understanding the past?” she said.
The three women emphasised Panahi’s role in female empowerment. “Women’s rights and parity with men is very fashionable now. But Panahi was interested in it a long time ago.
The White Balloon had a little girl as the main character. He has always been focused on women’s rights,” acknowledged Mohajer. “He lets you express yourself, be on top of your game,” said Panahi’s editor.
In parting, Jafari expressed happiness that 3 Faces will be released in India. It’s significant for Panahi’s crew that the film gets a wider audience. Part of Cannes folklore is how Panahi’s This Is Not A Film was smuggled into Cannes 2011 in a pendrive hidden inside a cake. How did 3 Faces reach Cannes and how will it travel further in the world?
The threesome would rather not talk about it. “We may still need to use [similar] tactics for the next film,” said a smiling Mohajer.
