FRANCE: Iranian film director Bahman Ghobadi brings 'No One Knows About Persian Cats' to the 62nd Cannes Film Festival

Record ID: 386022

  • Title: FRANCE: Iranian film director Bahman Ghobadi brings 'No One Knows About Persian Cats' to the 62nd Cannes Film Festival
  • Date: 16th May 2009
  • Summary: CANNES, FRANCE (MAY 15, 2009) (REUTERS) GHOBADI DOING INTERVIEWS (SOUNDBITE) (FARSI) FILM DIRECTOR BAHMAN GHOBADI SAYING: "To be honest with you, I am not scare of anything, I'm not worried about anything because I've got nothing to lose anymore. A few years ago I was afraid of death, I was worried about making the best film in the world. But now, within the past couple of years, I've got to the stage where I am not worried about anything. Nothing actually matters to me apart from what I'm doing so nothing stops me from getting on with my career. I am no longer scared of death."
  • Embargoed: 31st May 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Reuters ID: LVA8Z1UJLLBD9O7IOXFFFQ33RJ1V
  • Story Text: Iranian film director Bahman Ghobadi brings 'No One Knows About Persian Cats' to the 62nd Cannes Film Festival. The film about the underground music scene in Iran opened the Un Certain Regard category, premiering on Thursday (May 14).
    'No One Knows About Persian Cats', a documentary style fiction piece, tells the story of two young musicians recently released from prison. Negar Shaghaghi and Ashkan Koshanejad dream of travelling abroad to perform their music freely.
    But first they have a few hurdles to overcome; most importantly, Ashkan is in need of a passport and the two are yet to form a band. The film depicts their mission to complete their musical group, however, their task is not an easy one.
    Restrictions on musical artists in Iran is extreme and permission to perform is limited to say the least. Furthermore, female artists have the added difficulty of not being allowed to perform solo due to religious restrictions.
    As with the characters in his film, Bahman Ghobadi, faced similar difficulties in filming and - again like his characters - was unable to obtain a permit to shoot; the result being an underground film about underground music shot in 17 days.
    Penalties for breaking the law with regards to such matters can be as severe as imprisonment, as Koshanejad himself experienced after performing in a rock concert. For many artists, musicians and film makers, this in itself is enough of a warning to put a stop to any attempts in production.
    For Ghobadi, this has not been the case. When asked if he was worried about the position he puts himself in for producing such controversial material, he says he no longer fears the consequences.

    "To be honest with you, I am not scare of anything, I'm not worried about anything because I've got nothing to lose anymore. A few years ago I was afraid of death, I was worried about making the best film in the world. But now, within the past couple of years, I've got to the stage where I am not worried about anything," Ghobadi told Reuters Television.

    "Nothing actually matters to me apart from what I'm doing so nothing stops me from getting on with my career. I am no longer scared of death," he added.
    According to Ghobadi, music in particular, faces more obstacles that other forms of artistic expression and is confronted with much censorship which begs the question: why touch the subject at all if it may bring so much trouble to its source?
    "I love music and music is the best thing for me and it's been like, 30 years since any film about music has been made. The music movement is a huge thing and at the same time, music is forbidden in Iran; particularly women singing. Women are not allowed to sing solo, so it makes it a very interesting subject and potentially very important," Ghobadi said adding: "I like music, and I like underground music. That's why I did it. I wanted to give a picture of what is happening in music, which is different from other arts like photography... music faces lots of issues."
    Shaghaghi, an artist herself, pointed out that their reasons for accepting the roles in the film were not based on any sort of rebellion. Nor were they based on the need to speak out against anyone or push an ideology but more to show the positivity that can come out of music.

    "For us, music isn't an act of protesting or talking against somebody or something, we just wanted to create positivity towards music; that what we do is actually art and it can be heard by more people, it's more social and so we weren't thinking that we were going to hurt somebody or offend somebody and we were just following our hearts," she explained.
    As for hopes of more artistic freedom in Iran, for Koshanejad, the key is a separation of music and politics. When the two are no longer intrinsically linked, a more peaceful creative ground will await artists in the country.

    "We believe that some day it should happen, that art should go separated from any politics and when every one believes that music and art are not against morality, everything goes peacefully," Koshanejad said.
    A talking point at the festival has been the release of Ghobadi's fiancé, an Iranian journalist with whom he co-scripted his new film, from an Iranian prison after being accused of espionage.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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