IFFK 2019: Focusing on human relations

Iranian films have worked within system and kept narrative simple, says Fatemeh Motamed-Arya, who is park of the IFFK jury

December 10, 2019 11:05 pm | Updated December 11, 2019 06:23 pm IST - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Iranian movies have always been the example of how life can thrive with grace and grit even amidst odds. This is because the filmmakers there were urged to look into the finer aspects of nature when clamped down by the regimes post the 1979 Islamic revolution, says Fatemeh Motamed-Arya, the multi-award winning veteran who has worked with the masters over her four-decade-old career and garnered around 80 international awards.

Voice of dissent

She has also been a voice of dissent in a country that finds its creative space often eroded by religious and political diktats.

Fatemeh, who has been in the jury panel for 60 international film festivals, is part of the IFFK jury this year.

“Violence and sex are usually used by filmmakers to make their work appealing to the masses. With the different regimes restricting us, we began looking into relationships between humans and nature and such subtle aspects of existence to tell stories. We went deeper while working within the system and keeping the narrative simple,” she says on why Iranian movies evoke a dewy morning feel.

The Ahmedinijad regime saw the shutting down of the House of Cinema, a facility that encouraged filmmaking, and the detainment of prominent filmmakers. Post that, there is a sense of breather which is reflecting in good work, Fatemah says. “Times are getting better. Iranian films are winning laurels as always,” she feels, adding the filmmakers are also getting choosy about the festivals they go to screen their work.

Her role as a professor in cinema and theatre at the University of Isfahan has brought her closer to the next generation of the new wave whom she feels are promising enough to take the legacy forward.

“But they do not have the patience and would want to be achievers without the experience of actually walking the path. There is a considerable amount of western influence also coming in. The trend has its negatives but the positives too cannot be ignored,” she says, adding the transformation among the youth is there in all fields, and though outwardly they appear to be tolerating the system, deep inside they are slowly breaking free.

Fatemeh sees the times also as a transition phase when Iranian movies could be transformed by such groups. “There are young actors who act in the television where wearing the hijab is strict. They do it, but once out of the workplace or outside the country, they shun such traditional paraphernalia and be just another youngster who is part of a larger world community.”

This bunch, as they gain the confidence to be mature filmmakers or artistes, will sure usher in a greater change that will take on the faith-based rigidity that is appearing to influence social life across the world. “People cling to faith as though out of some fear. To some, it has become a fashion too. But these are just transient phases and the times to come is sure to be good, even for cinema,” she says.

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