Cinema
Directing
The Cut/Masculinity
Documentary
Date: 2018-2024
During the process of making the documentary "Mothers' Room," I met Maryam Kheirandish. She was a very talented mentor of disabled girls at a center for exceptional children. (In Iran, there is gender segregation due to religious reasons, and schools and centers for girls and boys are separate). After 45 years of struggle, she finally realized that she was transgender and belonged to the male community.
At that time, she was waiting for the court's decision for gender reassignment surgery. I wondered how families would accept them after the surgery. What changes would them life undergo after the surgery? She had close relationships with girls for years as a woman, how would families treat them? Would there be a place for Maryam in school or would he have to leave his job and loved ones?
To find the answers, I decided to accompany Kheirandish to see what would happen to the career and life after the surgery, and how society would accept him.
Filming this difficult process was challenging as the hospital did not allow filming. Therefore, I secretly filmed her with a small camera. After the surgery, I accompanied Kheirandish for seven years to fully understand my questions.
The 50-minute film output includes archive images related to Kheirandish's early work, family archival films, and films taken with various cameras, all connected with his voiceover.
“HO MON AMOUR” Oh my love
Music Video
Date: 2024
This music video is based on my memories from two trips to the north and south of Iran, reminding me of the memories and feelings I had during those trips related to Youri. Youri, is a 25-year-old French boy who committed suicide a year after a trip he made from Paris to Tehran on a bicycle. This music was written for Youri by his brother.
When I was offered to make a music video, I felt that no representation could convey the feelings of those days, so I decided to convey them by using archival footage and the Dissolve technique, combining videos and bringing Youri's presence to the current film. This music video was very well received in France.
The House
Documentary
Date: 2024
Five years ago, when we moved to this house, it was my dream house.
This house, built during the Pahlavi era, consists of three floors with high ceilings and colorful plaster decorations and has a large courtyard. But what gave this house its soul was the memories left behind by the people who lived in this house.
Each piece in the house is a souvenir from their trips to southern Iran, mixed with French spices and turned into a unique piece. What caught my attention and made me decide to make a documentary about it was Catherine who the house belongs to her.
Catherine is a French woman who married Tashi (Dr. Azar Tashi Azarnoosh) 50 years ago and came to Iran and settled in this house. Catherine has a Bachelor's degree in French literature. Catherine's relationship with the house is a romantic one that she still holds on to. While most people in Iran desire to leave the country, she is determined to continue living in the house and remain with it.
Catherine's love for the house is a fascinating and engaging story, which is narrated in this documentary along with house films, archival photos, and Super 8 films
The Mothers Room
Documentary
Date: 2016-2018
Through Leila (my aunt), who gave birth to a disabled son named Hossein 15 years ago, I became familiar with the life of a mother whose inner and personality life gradually changed imperceptibly with the birth of a disabled child. I asked myself how I could convey the inner feelings of a mother with a disabled child to others.
Over a year, I went to a special children’s school with Hossein as a companion. The school kitchen was where mothers gathered during classes, which they called the "Mothers' Room."
Mothers who had been estranged from their families, society, and their environment were different people in that room. They spoke freely and laughed from the heart. There was no sense of pity in the room. For me, entering the Mothers' Room and being accepted alongside them was a great honor. I spent my days with them and listened to their stories. My goal was to show their inner feelings and abilities. Among them were mothers who turned children's disabilities into abilities and turned their weaknesses into strengths through their children and used them for themselves.
A Bird that Never Dies
Video Animation
Date: 2011
The designs on special flags for the month of Muharram in the Islamic religion have a long history in Iran. These designs are always inspired by stories and mythological elements. Initially, these motifs and designs with sharp and shiny colors on black and green velvet fabrics attract every onlooker's attention. But what is contemplative and sorrowful for me is the disappearance of the tradition of embroidery on velvet fabrics with the advent of digital printing, where plastic banners replaced velvet fabrics.
Abbas Agha Gol-Douz was one of the last tailors who survived the tradition of embroidery from generation to generation. I accompanied him to embroider a bird for me. That same eternal bird in the curtain of the day of Ashura. I used After Effects to make that bird fly. The purpose of this project was to be a wake-up call for the disappearance of this old tradition that was also considered part of our culture
