Sodankylä morning discussion with Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Mohsen Makhmalbaf at the Sodankylä morning discussion, 14 June 2019. Photo: Sanna Larmola / MSFF.

Mohsen Makhmalbaf in discussion in English with Timo Malmi.
Midnight Sun Film Festival (MSFF), Sodankylä, The School, 14 June 2019.

MSFF: "The legendary director Mohsen Makhmalbaf shared his long and well-thought-out visions about the philosophy of filmmaking and the situation in his native country Iran. Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the father of Samira Makhmalbaf, a guest in Sodankylä 10 years ago, was interviewed by festival’s artistic director Timo Malmi."

"Makhmalbaf says that growing up he never saw movies. His upbringing was conservative and having an interest in arts was disapproved. At the age of 8 he dropped out of school to support his family struggling to make ends meet."

"Makhmalbaf found the world of literature after being incarcerated at the age of 17. He was convicted for taking part in a revolutionary movement against the Shah of Iran. He spent his time in prison reading a book after another and started to question whether the world could ever be changed through violence or politics. This realisation grew stronger after he was released from prison."

"Makhalbaf remembers seeing François Truffaut’s dystopian film Fahrenheit 451 (1966) in his 20s and realizing that it is possible to both connect and communicate with people through cinema."

"As well as being a writer, Makhmalbaf tested his skills in movie making. He explains that as a filmmaker he is self-taught. According to Makhmalbaf, quality filmmaking requires the director to have a broad general knowledge and personal vision, capability to tell a story entertainingly as well as talent to construct a magical tension to the film. These are some of the things he has taught his students at Makhmalbaf Film House, a film school and a movie production establishment he founded in 1996."

"Makhmalbaf has repeteadly faced difficulties during his career. Because of Iran’s strict censorship, only a small part of all the productions are allowed to be seen by the public. The strict circumstances force the filmmakers to be creative, for example by sending scripts of false movies to the authorities, or smuggling films that are in danger of being censored abroad."

"Makhmalbaf escaped from Iran in the 2000s with his family. He admits that the revolution has failed and that he still suffers from political persecution."

"Makhmalbaf wants to make a change to the everyday problems in the society with his work. He puts the blame for the current situation on his countrymen along with dictators and leaders. Obsolete perceptions must change or there will never be a turn for the better. He thinks the problem is universal. Makhmalbaf believes nevertheless that knowledge can be expanded through cinema."

"If Makhmalbaf were to  choose a film to take to a desert island, his choice would be Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali (1955)." (MSFF)

MOHSEN MAKHMALBAF

Timo Malmi, MSFF Catalogue: "Few movies are more eventful and exciting than the career and life of Iranian Mohsen Makhmalbaf (born in 1957). As the son of a single mother, he started working already at the age of 8 to support his family, and was sent to prison at the age of 17 for being a member in an underground movement opposing the Shah of Iran. He was released after the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and moved from politics to art and published the first of his 30 books in 1981."

"Makhmalbaf ’s varied production often coloured by humour consists of over 30 movies, including short films and documentaries. Five of them will be seen in Sodankylä: One of the key works of Iranian cinema, comically documentary Hello Cinema (1995), A Moment of Innocence (1996), that fascinatingly touches Makhmalbaf ’s experiences of imprisonment and moves between reality and fiction in typical Iranian style, the colourfully beautiful depiction of carpet-weaving nomads, Gabbeh (1996), possibly the most famous depiction of the horror and fear of the situation in Afghanistan, Kandahar (2001), which was made there due to the high political and religious tensions in Iran, and a dictator recital made in Georgia, The President (2014). It follows up Makhmalbaf ’s persistent interest in social analyses, even though he and his movies have been blacklisted in Iran and due to his political activism he and his family have since had to live over ten years in exile in Western Europe."

"We will also see Makhmalbaf as an actor, when he portrays himself in late Iranian Sodankylä visitor (2007) Abbas Kiarostami’s unusual documentary (or mockumentary) Close-Up (1990). Based on a true story, it tells a story about a poor man that is put on trial for pretending to be Makhmalbaf, and then deceiving the family of an old woman by extorting money ostensibly for acting in a movie."

"Founded by the director in 1996, the film production complex Makhmalbaf Film House and it’s school are unique as the whole family, including the children, is dedicated to making movies (Samira Makhmalbaf, who got to the top at a sensationally young age, visited Sodankylä in 2009), achieving total international success. The life story of Mohsen Makhmalbaf and his family is certainly one of the most interesting ones we will ever get to hear in the morning discussions of the festival." Timo Malmi, MSFF Catalogue

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MOHSEN MAKHMALBAF

Useimmat elokuvat eivät pysty olemaan vaiheikkaampia ja jännittävämpiä kuin iranilaisen Mohsen Makhmalbafin (s. 1957) ura ja elämä. Yksinhuoltajaäidin lapsena hän meni töihin elättääkseen perhettä jo kahdeksanvuotiaana ja joutui Iranin shaahia vastaan toimivan maanalaisen liikkeen jäsenenä vankilaan 17-vuotiaana. Vuoden 1979 islamilaisen vallankumouksen jälkeen hän pääsi vapaaksi, siirtyi politiikasta taiteisiin ja julkaisi ensimmäisen lähes kolmestakymmenestä kirjastaan 1981.

Makhmalbafin monipuolinen, usein huumorin kultaama tuotanto käsittää lyhyt- ja dokumenttifilmeineen yli kolmekymmentä elokuvaa. Niistä nähdään Sodankylässä viisi: uuden iranilaisen elokuvan avainteoksiin kuuluva, hauskan dokumentaarinen Hello Cinema (1995), hänen vangitsemiskokemuksiaan kiehtovasti kosketteleva, tyypillisen iranilaisesti toden ja fiktion rajoilla liikkuva A Moment of Innocence (1996), värikylläisen kaunis mattoja kutovien paimentolaisten kuvaus Gabbeh (1996), kotimaan kiristyneen uskonnollis-poliittisen sensuurin vuoksi Afganistanissa valmistunut, maan kauhun ja pelon tilanteen kenties kuuluisin kuvaus Kandahar – aurinko kuun takana (2001) sekä Georgiassa valmistettu diktaattoritilitys The President (2014). Se jatkaa Makhmalbafin hellittämätöntä kiinnostusta yhteiskunnalliseen analysointiin, vaikka hänet on julistettu elokuvineen pannaan Iranissa ja hän on poliittisen aktiivisuutensa vuoksi joutunut nyttemmin elämään perheineen yli kymmenen vuotta maanpaossa Länsi-Euroopassa.

Lisäksi näemme Mohsen Makhmalbafin näyttelijänä, kun hän esittää omaa itseään iranilaisen Sodankylä-vieraan (2007) Abbas Kiarostamin erikoisesti dokumentaarisessa (tai ”mokumentaarisessa”) ohjaustyössä Close-Up (1990). Se kertoo tositapahtumiin pohjautuen köyhästä miehestä, joka joutuu oikeuteen esiinnyttyään Makhmalbafina ja huijaten siten vanhan naisen perhettä kiristämällä siltä rahaa muka elokuvassa näyttelemistä vastaan.

Ohjaajan 1996 perustama elokuvatuotantokompleksi Makhmalbaf Film House on kouluineen ainutlaatuinen maailmassa, kun koko perhe on omistautunut elokuvanteolle lapsia myöten (sensaatiomaisen nuorena huipulle päässyt Samira Makhmalbaf vieraili Sodankylässä 2009) ja totaalista kansainvälistä menestystä saavuttaen. Mohsen Makhmalbafin ja hänen perheensä elämäntarina on varmasti yksi kiehtovimpia, mitä festivaalin aamukeskusteluissa saamme koskaan kuulla.

Timo Malmi