Cinema Trust , Tina Jalali wrote in the newspaper Etemad: The documentary “Ran” directed by Sam Kalantari and authored and produced by Arash Sadeghi and Sam Kalantari has just been released on the Hashor platform. A film that offers an fascinating and lovely narrative of the life and dreams of contemporary Iranian artist Ali Akbar Sadeghi and also has a new creative form and structure. The director in the film has attempted to portray the hidden and not -stated dimensions of a prominent painter in Mr. Sadeghi’s position. It can be said that the documentary “Rakh”, like Ali Akbar Sadeghi himself, is surreal and humor and has a special attraction.
The film has been screened and applauded in various film circles and festivals; It has also won awards such as Best Film and Directing from the Moscow World Festival, Best Director and Filming of the 18th International Cinema Festival, and the Best Sound Award for the 13th Independent Cinema Cinema.
Our conversation with Sam Kalantari, the director of this documentary, is in front of you.
B.Let’s start with your interest and friendship with Mr. Sadeghi’s family, whether your friendship made you make this documentary or based on the mission you felt as a filmmaker? Either Mr. Sadeghi’s Foundation offered you to build this documentary or was Mr. Sadeghi’s son offer? Basically how did you make this movie?
This goes back to years, this is a combination of what you mentioned. This means that my family and Mr. Sadeghi’s family have been friends for many years, so Arash Sadeghi and I have a long and old friendship. For many years, Arash and I were trying to make this film, and Arash had repeatedly made it, but for various reasons it didn’t happen, due to my involvement or Arash’s conflict or project interference, until we finally started the project three or four years ago after the film “There is no place for angels”. There were different ideas, but in the end we decided to start and put together the original design and sink. The text of this work and the design of the scenario “Ran” is the common work of me and Arash, and we wrote two. Arash gave me a directing offer, and we officially made the Sadeghi Foundation invested and started producing the film “Ran”.
Let’s look at the narrative of the film “Khor”, to make this documentary, was it completely with you, or was it made with the help of Arash Sadeghi?
From the beginning the task was clear and the task of directing was the perfect work. Since we had worked enough and the script’s aristocracy, there was no discussion at all, when the construction process began, Arash had a production position and I was directing.
What distinguishes the documentary film is its structure. In this film, you did not collect a resume for Mr. Sadeghi, the structure of the movie “Rak” is different and lovely, as it attracts the general audience, talk to us about this kind of form.
Given that you have often seen my work, I think you can make it easier to comment. Where do you think my career is in my career?
In my opinion, the movie “Rak” is different, new and attractive, but what matters in all the things I have seen is “form”.
Exactly, meme of this precision. Always when I want to make a movie, before making a job, we first need to see what form or ideas and content of selective content offers me. I previously worked on the classic article and portrait about Sadegh Hedayat (from House No. 37), but I am always interested and fascinating to me, and I ask myself whether I can choose another form and narrative for this content. To challenge myself? That model of the narrative and the form of the storytelling I had in the Sadegh Hedayat’s article was an experienced work, or at least it was not complicated, and it did not engage the number of general audiences we intended. Making a film in the portrait genre has its own complexities. Mohsen Shahrnazar and I thought that form in “From House 37”. But the movie “Rakh”, which is a form of portrait movie, I don’t think this form. Maybe my experience was greater, or perhaps the capacities that the character of the film had. The point was that if anyone wanted to know Mr. Sadeghi, Wikipedia and many books and articles were available, and we were not our goal.
I think we have to be cinematic, that is, to be interested in such a narrative, of course I am not sure to say that I know cinema or form very well, but at least I would like to do something that looks a cinematic and visual experience, and it is clear to the media.
Did you consider such a structure from the beginning?
Yes, from the beginning we talked to Arash, we thought to build a fashion with a structure that could be displayed on the cinema and feel that it was made for the cinema, that is, what we make in the sense of “cinema”, aesthetics, and framing. In addition, we are approaching Mr. Sadeghi’s surreal and playful character, who is in line with the central idea of the film.
In my opinion, the form of the narrative and directing and producing this film has such a look. That is, we reached what I had in mind and wrote on the Qaeda with Arash.
Mr. Sadeghi is a prominent personality, and in the unique, in order to achieve a lovely and at the same time accurately, making a movie about their lives is definitely having its own hardships, but I want to know how much you accompany you during the work and what was your challenge in this film?
I can’t say a lie, we really had no challenge. I say this for two reasons; First, because I had been in this house for years, we played with Arash in the rooms, in the courtyard, staircases, aisle, we knew the angles of this house, I was already familiar with his people, as if making a movie as if one of my relatives was going and coming. The second point was Arash’s presence in the project that he knew his father well, and the red lines that Arash and I had checked before making the film made us not go wrong, enough to get to know one and know what things were not interested or what he did and we should not move as creators. These were the tips we observed in the design of the scenario and the design.
Since we knew Mr. Sadeghi, our scenario design was such that Mr. Sadeghi would not be challenged, since we did not enter the hidden angles of Mr. Sadeghi’s characteristics that he did not want. For these reasons, it really didn’t happen.
Dear Kalantari, despite the fact that the movie “Rakh” is a complete film, but some of the critics I was reviewing some of them believed that you focused more on your family’s narrative and did not address his artistic aspects.
Our film is about the dreams and lives of a contemporary Iranian painter, the idea that critics have another film can still be made about the aspects that critics say. Or those who are interested in Mr. Sadeghi can refer to Mr. Sadeghi’s website and what they want to know about it on the site, such a movie, as I said, would have become more Wikipedia. Maybe making such a film by Ali Akbar Sadeghi, but I was looking for another film.
It seems you were looking for the unknown dimensions of Mr. Sadeghi, because the artistic part of him knows him, that is, you were looking for dimensions that people do not know.
If you take a look at our scenario, we would like to see if we could portray the hidden dimensions of a painter or individual in Mr. Sadeghi’s position or not. This “or no” is very important because it is a path, basically filmmaking is a path, you either reach or not come. I think the path we took was the perception of freedom from the discovery of the angles of a creative mind that is likely to be mistaken.
Since it is the most prominent of the film “Ran”, let’s talk more about this part, do you agree with Mr. Sadeghi’s paintings?
I agree with one hundred percent, the goal was to make a film that was based on Mr. Sadeghi’s character. Some characters and some stories allow the director to choose such a handwriting as well as a path. Mr. Sadeghi’s personality allowed me and Arash to have such a design for him. Some characters do not allow the director to do this, meaning not to use such a playfulness and imagination.
It is also related to the director’s creativity.
I want to say that the basis of the work when it is available you are just zero at zero. From now on, you have to be capable, curious and creative. When you also have the capacity to use this capacity, some may not be able to use this capacity or some subjects will not allow it. Fortunately, this capacity was available to us and our team formed the film together. Yes, I believe that there is a different job, but the reasons for success are to the team. Mr. Sadeghi’s son’s presence in writing the scenario, my directing because I have known Mr. Sadeghi for many years, the special filming of Reza Teimouri, who has known each other for many years, or the immigrant presence because Ms. Immigrant has known Mr. Sadeghi for many years.
All of the prominent and professional.
I have nothing to do with the team’s good and bad, that the team knows each other and worked together for years and know Mr. Sadeghi. That is, we had all the good facilities to build, we just had to see if we could? That made me anxious about whether I could see it or not.
In this film, what mattered is to show the artist’s suffering in the path of life or create a work of art. In other words, the suffering of being an artist was felt in the film’s layers.
I prefer to allow people to have their own perceptions and not direct the film’s and interested people, your view may be right or correct.
When I make a film, I separate from the extra -affecting effects. I really say I don’t know.
In part of the film, we see Mr. Sadeghi’s psychology and personality analysis, one of the most important points of the film “Rakh”. You’re talking a little about this.
This was in our plan, to pull ourselves into the story, the psychoanalyst entered the story, with the psychoanalysts we were talking about before, we knew the process of chat and psychoanalysis in front of the camera could not be scientific, but it would be a starting way to discover a person and to show us the way to the camera. We didn’t think the treatment room.
The question was that when you made the movie for the cinema, the cinematic look was currently why you didn’t screen the movie in the cinemas. Mr. Sadeghi is a prominent personality, do they not cooperate?
We think about the release right now, our broadcast is in addition to the release of the Hashor platform. In the meantime, we also consider the purposeful cinema screening independently. That is, we have had and will have from now on.
Tell us a little about the audience’s feedback, what was the opinion of those who saw the movie?
What we talked to with the Hashor platform managers is relatively satisfied.
Such films are seen over time to audiences, and the upward trend of the movie “Rakh”, according to friends of the Hashor platform, is quite evident.
Are you still looking for such subjects?
No, it’s very hard.
Why?
It is extremely difficult to portray the work. While cinema and filmmaking are not a job for me, it is love, life and a kind of therapy for me, I’m not saying that all my work is good, all my effort is not to repeat myself, that is, not to repeat the old things.
New experience?
Yes, because filmmaking is my life, so I can’t look at it like work, it is true that I don’t know if I am not sure I can do it well, but because I relax it if I repeat it, I don’t want to get my calm down. Until the secondary notice that is my goal.
It is as if you want to make a movie.
Yes, I think. But as I said, filmmaking is my life. It can now be documentary, it can be cinematic. Today in the contemporary world, I think these concepts are no longer like this. You are either a filmmaker or not! Its shape and type (genre and species) no longer important!