(“Timology”, 2015, Iran, Vahid Mobasheri)
How did you learn about FCI film festival?
Through your site.
Has your experience working for the Iranian Radio & TV helped you as a filmmaker? How?
Yes very much. Through acquaintance with equipment and people.
What draws you to the medium of film, especially short films?
The simplicity and brevity of the short film.
The use of symbols such as an old watch, passage of time, identical people, and suitcase are predominantly used in your film. Are these used as symbols to help communicate a message to the international audiences?
Yes. Time is certainly the weak point and common concern of all humans.
You have chosen to reach your audience through symbolic narrative instead of storytelling. Do you think concentrating on single ideas is the best way to help get the point across when making a short film?
Having a single idea helps us convey the same idea completely, and I think having a perfect idea is better than having a few incomplete ideas. This transition happens better in short films.
Where is the starting point in this film? Is it an idea, an image or a theme?
In my opinion, the film’s starting point is where the idea comes from and the concerns of the film’s characters become apparent.
The movie is a visual idea.
You could have selected a different artform to communicate your ideas such as poetry, painting or still photography. what is it about film that has captured your imagination?
Yes, the idea was transferable in all forms of art, but the short film and the whole cinema are mixed with the question of time. The concept of time cannot be separated from the art of cinema as a result of which talk of time is better conveyed in film.
Watching your film, a viewer has a certain experience, and then there is also the impact the film leaves on its audience after it has been seen. What do you imagine that people will want to talk about after they see your film?
Maybe the audience at the beginning of this movie was talking about what the movie was trying to say? Then the answer was something about time. In my opinion, this ambiguity in the meaning of the film has made the audience meaningful based on what they have, but they all agree on the importance of time.
Is there anything else you want us to know about you as a filmmaker or about this specific film?
This movie was made with the lowest cost and the most effort. But in my opinion, filmmaking in the current situation in Iran is ambitious and requires a warrior spirit. We independent Iranian filmmakers, without any expectations, love to portray my words and concerns, albeit in the simplest way possible. Filmmaking and all the arts have no boundaries and the freest world is the art world. In my opinion, the only place where there is freedom is the world of art, but noble and pure art. The art of humanity flies freely and manifests itself in the world. This art is the message of peace and friendship.
Thank you very much. It was a great pleasure talking with you.
“January 2020”
Disclaimer: Please note that most artists, filmmakers and authors presented by FCI are not native speakers of the English language. To avoid misinterpretation, it is FCI’s policy to print their responses as received without structural or content changes.
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