Apart from the regime, the government, the war, there is a lot more to Iran. Documentary, And, Towards Happy Alleys by Sreemoyee Singh celebrates that in a poetic way. It gives you an alternate perspective — of the beauty of Iran’s culture and its cinema. “The film celebrates the people of Iran. It celebrates moments when Iranians express through music, poetry, and cinema, basically art, despite the stringent censorship of the regime,” asserts Sreemoyee. It elevates rather than victimises the people who are expressing their right to resist. “My film doesn’t judge. It simply observes. It talks about the inner lives of people, their daily struggles and their resilience.” The film is a series of conversations with journalists, filmmakers, actors that Sreemoyee got access to after spending seven years in Iran and learning their language, Farsi. It helped her a lot in making important connections — especially with the Iranian filmmaker, Jafar Panahi. The film had its world premiere at Berlin International Film Festival.
CINEMA CALLING
My calling was always a combination of a few things. Cinema is incredible because it allows you to choose multiple expressions. It’s this medium where music and poetry come together. Cinema has the power to bring diverse modes of expression together. And that is why it is so special and was definitely my calling. It accommodates or gives me that space to think, to sing, and to question.
BEAUTY OF IRANIAN CULTURE
At twenty-one, I didn’t think about making this film immediately after college. But slowly, over the years, I learned and educated myself about Iranian cinema, culture and poetry. I began learning Farsi. Iranian films were very different from the kind of films I grew up watching in India. Iranian cinema has a rhythm to it. There’s so much poetry. And I was so connected to poetry since I used to write poems. After the revolution in 1979, a lot of restrictions were imposed on cinema. People couldn’t directly express themselves. A lot was banned, but the new wave filmmakers discovered that they could express through the indirectness, allegories and metaphors of Persian poetry. So I deeply connected with it. Simultaneously, at university we were reading the poetry of this feminist poet from the 1960s, named Forough Farrokhzad. Her poetry directly inspired this new wave movement in Iranian Cinema.
MAKING THE FILM
I wanted to meet Panahi, so I was steadfast about that from the very beginning. I also got a chance to meet a lot of practitioners from the industry. I requested whomever I met to connect me to other filmmakers because I was writing a PhD on Iranian cinema. These connections led me to Panahi. I was able to get such strong access because I learned Farsi and not too many filmmakers do that. At our screenings, people have applauded me for learning Farsi as that is what connected me with the people.
The film is not just about filmmakers, it is an ode to the resilience of the people of Iran, especially women. Iran is a place where you feel you’re constantly watched, the streets feel claustrophobic. There is a good amount of paranoia when you’re out in the street. As opposed to that, the filming within indoor spaces, within the comfort of friends and filmmakers, made me feel safe.
CHALLENGES
I was very careful from the very beginning. I knew my limitations. I could not shoot too much on the streets, I had to follow the rules of hijab. I mostly filmed indoors. I wouldn’t get any permission from the regime, obviously not. I worked in a way that I made myself invisible. I was working with a small camera. I was doing the sound myself. The sound device was hidden in my bag. I shot myself so I wouldn’t attract too much attention. If it’s a smaller crew, it’s easier to build trust. This method of filming worked in my favour.
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Words Hansika Lohani
Date 23-06-2023