Fests are great for seeing films you may not see anywhere else, but they're especially wonderful for being able to hear from filmmakers in person regarding their work. PSIFF held a conversation hosted by the reps from the new web magazine Cinema Without Borders, International Editor James Ulmer & Editor-in-Chief Bijan Tehrani. Directors interviewed included Jamil Rostami (Jani Gal), Scott Bloom (Call Me Troy) & Louise Hogarth (Angels in the Dust). They discussed the difficulties and dangers of making political films.
•While choking up his translator, Rostami noted that a screening of his film marked the first time in 35 years Kurdish people got to see a film, and they were so excited that the theatre continued to overflow at 1 a.m. shows. He explained that part of the attraction was that the film is based on a popular novel that has had great impact on the people.
Rostami revealed the dangers of bringing together 6,000 extras. Having just two Kurds together made them a terrorist target, and he was quite nervous that he was putting lives at stake, especially considering that filming locations involved the risk of not surviving a trip to the supermarket. When he informed a neighborhood that they would be filming an explosion, the neighbors united in support and armed themselves because they believed they were under attack. The director slept with guns, ready for an attack against himself or his crew. No Hollywood production, to say the least. His next film will focus on the 180,000 Kurds who were buried alive and the widows and orphans who were sold to other countries for prostitution under Saddam Hussein's regime.
Rostami hopes to inspire other movie makers in the region so that more Kurdish stories may be heard, and he has partnered with an Italian film company. His goal is to create a cinematic nation.
•Tehrani left Iran for the United States 20 years ago and though he could return, he would not be allowed back to the United States. He reflected on his childhood in Iran and said that film saved him in world where when executing a man they reassured him by saying that if he was innocent he'd go to Heaven, but if he was guilty justice was served. Sounds a bit like a Salem witch trial, though unfortunately occurring all too recently.
He recalled Iran's lack of humor in entertainment. He said that while working for an Iranian TV station, he was stuck in the sports division. When asked to create a segment on hiking, he filmed two fat men on a couch discussing their favorite hiking spots and then filmed a barefoot man on the street who snapped that he was looking for work. They aired the clip without review, and Tehrani claimed that after it aired he went into hiding.
With the CWB site, he hopes to introduce international cinema to broader audiences and help international filmmakers.
•Though Bloom is a gay man who documented a groundbreaking gay minister, the film's focus is religion. His mom was a born-again Christian who kicked him out of the house, so he was forced to set aside his opinion of organized religion to highlight Rev. Troy Perry's efforts. He has sent copies of the film to high schools with gay/straight alliance organizations and colleges with similar curriculum to better educate a new generation about this civil rights leader. He plans on tithing 10% of the DVD sales to help Perry's church.
•Hogarth considers herself an activist filmmaker and certainly seemed ready to educate the audience with her lists of horrifying stats concerning AIDS victims. However, she noted that her goal was to inspire people through her film rather than make them feel drained. Her subject, orphanage organizer Marion Cloete, told her that it was important to make a difference with one's life, and Hogarth attempts to follow that model by creating films she hopes will change dangerous behavior. Hogarth's next film is Devil Dog, which will follow a 2nd Lt. Marine under the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy which as she said, "Don't work."
Help her raise money for HIV/AIDS orphans by buying a bracelet.