"
For us immersed in the Iranian world, what is happening in the country is not something that suddenly exploded, a reaction to a tragic but extemporaneous event, we have been preparing this revolution for years and years
", he said in an interview with
Ansa director Emad Aleebrahim Dehkordi,
who presented his debut film at
the Marrakech Film Festival (November 11-19)
and, before that, in
San Sebastian.
The director is 50 years old and has been living in Paris for three years, together with many other artists from the
Iranian diaspora
.
In the film shot 2 years ago, “
Chevalier Noir
”, which tells the story of two brothers - one involved in the drug trade, the other an aspiring boxer - there is Hana,
a girl who goes out wearing a veil not following the rigors of Islamic law
.
A frightening coincidence with what happened to
Mahsa Amini
, we Westerners would say, but the director assures us that “
it affects those who are not involved in that reality
” because
the revolution had already been brewing for years…
Emad Aleebrahim Dehkordi then added: "
I'm 50 years old and I've been hearing these requests for some time but my generation perhaps didn't have the tools of today, which are for example the web, and I see these young students on the street so courageous and determined, they know they are risking their lives but they carry on, often supported by their mothers. Here I think things will really change now
".
The reference is obviously also to
Taraneh Alidoosti
, one of the most important and beloved Iranian actresses, protagonist of the
Oscar-winning film by Ashgar Farhadi, "The Client",
who had promised to remain in Iran alongside women who are fighting for their freedom, but who made a symbolic gesture that goes beyond promises: sharing on Instagram, with her over 8 million followers, a photo that shows her without a veil and holding the sign
"Woman, life, freedom".
She now she risks prison.
The
world of Cinema
is deeply involved in the protest: there are those who are in "self-exile" in Europe, in Paris, such as
Dehkordi, Farhadi and many others,
and there are directors in prison such as
Jafar Panahi,
sentenced to six years in prison for asking the authorities about two
arrested fellow filmmakers Mohammad Rasoulof and Mostafa Aleahmad.
Panahi, with his illegally shot film
“No Bears - Gli orsi non exist”,
won the special jury prize at Venice 2022 and, last November 4, made it possible to arrive at the Miami film festival (in the USA the film is released on 23 December) who awarded him, an
audio recorded in prison
: "
Thank you, but I have dreams that go beyond all the awards in the world
".
In Switzerland, in Ticino, the film opened the
"Human Rights Film Festival".