Music Was a Wake-Up Call For Me

Note: “No One Knows about Persian Cats” is the title of the most recent film by Bahman Ghobadi, which was just screened and awarded the special jury prize at the 62^nd Annual Cannes Festival in the section “A Certain Outlook (Un Certain Regard).” This film is about the underground music scene in Iran; its sequence style montage tells the story of a young band who intends to play a concert in Tehran before they emigrate from the country.

By showing another perspective of today’s Tehran, this film greatly appealed to the western audience of the festival. During this international festival, Iranian film critic Mohammad Abdi had the following interview with the director of “Persian Cats,” Bahman Ghobadi, about the production of his latest film.

The first thing that comes to mind after watching “No One Knows about Persian Cats” is how different it is from the themes in your prior films. Your films have always had a distinct artistic style, but suddenly everything changed in this movie, including its structure, atmosphere, location, and many other factors. How did these changes come about and why?

I always had, and continue to have, an interest in music. The main reason for my new approach toward film with an emphasis on music is the influence music has had on me. The second reason for my shift towards a new subject matter is circumstantial. The Ministry of Guidance did not want me to make films in the Kurdistan province anymore. The controversy surrounding the separatist movement, in addition to other factors, made me refrain from shooting in this region for at least a film or two. The government, rather than encourage me to make films about a region I so intimately know, prohibited me from working there. In hindsight, it was good for me to leave that atmosphere of film making and acquire some experience in new environments. This will also give me a fresh perspective when I return to shooting films in Kurdistan.

What I sensed was that you made this film for a Western audience, meaning you are speaking to someone who  is not familiar with Iran. In some parts the characters use  slogans and  refer to subjects that Iranian audiences know very well.

You have seen my film here. When we were shooting, 99% of our crew did not know that these kids work like this. It was quite a new experience for them and  I too was constantly learning. I had never seen such great underground energy that was being suffocated, and was ashamed because of this. All this suffocated talent is flourishing in Tehran’s underground scene. I tried to do something for them by letting other people hear their music; including those inside Iran. This film’s DVD will soon be out and the Ministry of Guidance would be crazy not to issue a permit for this film. In the age of the internet, there is no red line. When the DVD is distributed in Tehran, 70 million people will be watching it in the first week. My film “Half Moon,” which did not have a permit, had the highest circulation in Iran compared to my other movies. Maybe from now on I should intentionally make films for which they will not issue a screening permit! This would be like letting my films be viewed in thirty to forty theatres. There is a lot of discrimination between people in Iran.

This film also gives the audience an eccentric exposé of Iran with all its hidden talents. What do the people of the world know about Iran—warfare, nuclear ambition, its regional influence, and things like this? Who knew about these kids? The title of the film says it: how much do we know about Persian cats? The music these kids play amazes even the musicians who work in Germany and France. This film is not about me, we shouldn’t talk about me. This film is about a group of underground musicians.

But we are talking about the film and not only its subject, you have directed this film and it is your point of view.

I know, I am not just saying this to you, I am addressing everyone. We must talk more about these kids, not just about Iranian cinema and the latest Bahman Ghobadi film. The most important part of this film is its subject. These talented youth are leaving the country.  Everyone is leaving. Half of the kids in these bands will never come back to Iran. Why is this happening? They leave, are able to produce their music outside the country and disseminate it via the Internet to be heard in Iran. I don’t see the sense in this. The government of Iran and the Ministry of Culture know very well that this is happening. Yet they still deny freedom of the press by restricting television and the media. There are only a few TV channels that broadcast to the entire population. There must be a solution for this, but they do nothing. I don’t know what their problem is.

Many Iranians who live abroad didn’t know this. I was telling the kids on the scene that this film will make Iranians abroad proud. At least we are giving a different image of Tehran, of its hidden underground energy and even a new portrait of its architecture. Let them see this. How different are foreign audiences from Iranian audiences? It is this kind of tunnel vision – I don’t mean you – that does not allow us to grow. We can never fly

higher, we are locked up in a cage. This is bad. The world’s movie industry is struggling to let its voice be heard by all. Iran’s cinema is also striving to gain international recognition. This film can appeal to audiences both outside and inside of Iran. This is not bad.

You may be accused of having a “festival worthy” attitude toward filmmaking.

If this was true I would have always chosen to make easy films. I would not have worked so hard to make “Turtles Can Fly.” I age five or six years with every film that I produce. I torture myself. I could easily have a two person cast and not freeze in the snow. Like many of these beggar-like film makers in Iran, I could have avoided putting a crew of 8,000 on the scene of “Turtles Can Fly”. I guarantee that I can make a film with 12 shots that can be screened in the next Cannes Festival. My concern is cinema. If the Western audience was my concern, I would not have sent my film to the section “A Certain Outlook.” Everyone says this film should have been in the competition section. It does not make any difference for me to have an Iranian, Kurd, non-Kurd, or foreign audience. I have lost the prejudice of being an Iranian and a Kurd. The world is very small.

Then your questions are meaningless. We must think globally. We must be happy that an event like the Cannes Festival makes Iranians anxious to see this film. What is wrong with this?

Look, we have been asking the same question for over a hundred years. No offense to you, this is why we have a shitty cinema today. Sir, if a film maker wants to make a film for outsiders let him do it. What is wrong with this? These are questions that the Islamic Republic television asks. Why do you?

You didn’t let me to get to my primary issue. I am saying the subject is not what makes the film, so one cannot hide behind the subject. It is important to see how you approach a subject and what your vision and point of view is. The subject of your film is charming, but this is not my only concern as a critic. My concern is cinema, and how the subject is presented. I am saying your vision in this film is not profound and everything is presented with no depth. The dialogue is full of references for western viewers. This is my point. I am not talking about politics, because that is not my concern and I have no interest in it. You, as a director, are not going into any depth in this film. You are standing in a corner and just giving us a report of some news. Let the world know that Persian cats exist.

My intention was to make it apparent to Iranians and non-Iranians that at least ten different styles of Iranian music exist. This film is totally different from other films made about music. We can hear all sorts of underground music genres in this film. The first thing that was important for me in this film was what these musicians were trying to say. Second, music gave me a reason to produce something different. You hear ten different styles of music and see ten unique clips with different structures, all in relation to these musicians. I could go more in depth and portray only Ashkan and Negar, but portray only two or three styles of music. In the movie “Niveh Mong” (“Half Moon”) we only hear music twice, which was my mistake. I wanted to present you with a colorful soundtrack in this film. I could have shown you a single album and only one certain age group. But I wanted to show you music that spanned the generations of life. There is not enough time. The Cannes Festival doesn’t give you much time. One show, two shows, cut, next film. You must experience it yourself. You must walk the path to reach this point. Otherwise, this film could have been totally rejected and I would not be present at the Cannes festival today. Many films are made on the subject of music, why should they accept this one? Because it has a different blood, higher energy, it is the result of teamwork, and in the background you are following the story of Ashkan and Negar. I can’t give it more color. This is a musical. The film is giving you forty minutes of music.

The editing is charming, but why are you giving us a report in the middle of this production?

Like all the dialogue I referred to and their repetitiveness. “We sent it to Ershad and it is rejected,” and then you explain the relationships and the criteria in Iran.

This is the story. This is the story of Ashkan and Negar who want to leave Iran, and want to have a concert before their departure. You are also seeing another picture of Tehran in it. Yes it could have been different; just like you could have been wearing another shirt.

Look, we are talking about the production and the screenplay; Ashkan and Negar are living in Iran in that situation, why should they talk about the denial of a permit for a female singing solo? Isn’t this quite obvious to them? Why should they remind each other of that? One says “Ershad does not give a permit to a woman singing,” and the other one says “That is right, I forgot about that.” This kind of dialogue is repeated throughout the film. This is not real dialogue, this is slogan…

How can you show the situation in Iran? Should I have taken my camera to the Ministry of Guidance? Then I would have lost part of my crew. The fact is, you can’t tell a writer why he has written his novel a certain way! This is my outlook. Why did no one make a long movie on this subject? I have seen 17 to 18 documentaries about underground music. This was the only way I could talk about it and bring it to the screen, this is my conclusion. To me this is the most complete form. If someone knows a more complete dialogue let him go and make one! Everyone has an outlook. This is mine. No artistic work is perfect, just how not every piece of music in this film is perfect, and not everyone regards this film as perfect. I have not seen such a positive reaction toward my other films and this makes me happy because this only took 17 days of production, a small camera, and two motorcycles. I didn’t want to be subjected to the authority of the Ministry of Guidance anymore and I was able to circumvent their control. This is what I achieved by making this film. I also let the music of these kids be heard and  found a new style of cinema that I will use to make my next film different. I will never go back to the films I made before this one. Music was a wake-up call for me, both in my personal life and in my artistic career.

I am deciding between New York, Berlin, and Iraq; I want to go back to Iran once or twice to see my friends but I won’t go back there to make films.