cinema cinemaMohammad Haqit
The movie “Seven Days”, the latest film by Ali Samadi Ahadi, is having its international premiere these days at the Toronto Film Festival. The Toronto festival started on September 5 and will continue until September 15. This film will be shown at the Hamburg festival in Germany at the end of September.
“Seven Days” is the story of Maryam, a human rights activist in Tehran who has been in prison for six years. He is allowed to go to a hospital outside the prison for seven days to treat his illness and then return to the prison. Meanwhile, unexpected events happen to him…
This work, which has a high dramatic tension, was mainly filmed in Georgia and benefits from the good performances of Vishka Asayesh, Majid Bakhtiari, Sina Parvesh, Tanazmolaei and other actors.
Mohammad Haqit: Based on what was about “Seven Days”, it was thought to be the story of a well-known woman in the field of human rights who is in prison, but in the story of your film, the story takes a different form. Tell us about the beginning of writing the scenario, was the initial idea yours or Mohammad Rasoulov’s?
Ali Samadi Ahadi: One day, a mutual friend introduced us to each other. Of course, I knew him from Hamburg and this acquaintance was years ago. It was last year when that mutual friend told me that he would like to have a relationship with Mohammad. He had given one of his designs to a foundry in Germany who could find funding. It was from there that our relationship increased and one day he told me on the phone that he cannot make this plan because there is a lot of pressure on him in Iran, so he would like me to make it.
Truth: How many pages was what he sent you? Was the scenario over?
Samadi Ahadi: It was an early version. Of course, I liked the idea, but as a director, I had ideas. Every director has a different idea about a scenario. You have seen the movie yourself, my way of defining the movie is different from Rasoulov’s work. There are places where you have to change the sentences to your own form. As for the script, I had to make it according to what I wanted.
Truth: What were the changes you made? In terms of dialogues or in the form of stories?
Samadi Ahadi: I changed a lot of dialogues at work and sometimes I worked on improvisation. While working with the actors, I had to work in such a way that they could easily digest the sentences, because as you know, I have worked in various films as a writer and director, and I have enough experience in this field and its sensitivities. For the last part of the story, I completely changed the dramatic part of the story. The ending of Mohammad Rasoulov’s scenario was open, I don’t like open endings. There were other scenes that I changed and added, such as the scene between the girl and the mother, where emotional feelings are established between the two. I made this scene in such a way that the daughter and mother get closer. Since the scenario had a dramatic drop, I used my own ideas to create an emotional relationship between the characters and then break it down. In some places, I used the words of the people who speak for the defense of children’s rights and human rights in general, for them it is very important to respect human dignity.
Truth: How did the casting process go, especially for someone physically close to what you wanted and had in mind? Because Ms. Vishka Asayish really fits the role very well?
Samadi Ahadi: Yes, exactly. I was looking for an actress for a while, I was doing research and I got the news that Mrs. Vishka Asais has come abroad. By chance, one of my colleagues informed me about this, and I contacted him. He got acquainted with my works and I had seen his films before. During the pre-production period, we were in contact for a long time. In the stage before filming, we had three to four weeks of training.
Truth: How were the working conditions? Because you had worked in different places and often in difficult situations in the mountains and nature, which reminds of the Kurdistan region.
Samadi Ahadi: I used to work a lot in studio and closed space for my previous films, while this film required an open space. Sometimes we worked day and night with a temperature of twenty degrees below zero. Mentally, my family was very behind me and supported me. We spent a total of six months on casting, as well as funding and collaborators. At the same time, the assembly of the film was done in Germany. The work was very heavy, but we had no time to waste.
Truth: It’s amazing to me that you were able to find funding in such a short amount of time, and make the film in such difficult circumstances! These difficult conditions can be seen in the film.
Samadi Ahadi: I have been making films for about thirty-three years. They may not know me much in Iranian society, but they know me in German cinema and its professional society. In addition, we have a film production and distribution company with Mr. Farrokhmanesh, which makes things go faster.
Truth: Compared to the previous films, for example “Salami Alaikum”, which is very comedy and people-friendly, this film “Seven Days” is very different, which can be considered in the artistic category as it has a hard drama with a very committed theme. Storytelling with good, effective mise-en-scènes, with reasonable and neat montage in which it can be seen that you have managed to make a good film. Where does this change of method come from?
Samadi Ahadi: I have tried to experiment with different forms in my previous works, for example, in one film I had worked on a combination of cartoon and live-action film. I have tried to know what the story wants from me. When we make a film about people who work for human rights, we must use their sentences, but we don’t have to directly say about which person we are making a film about. The important thing is the moral commitment that the filmmaker must have.
Truth: Considering that the film was made in different places, and different locations, it seems like a big budget was used for it, doesn’t it?
Samadi Ahadi: no It was a relatively small budget and it cost about one and a half million euros.
Truth: And have you thought about the next project?
Samadi Ahadi: yes In October, I have a project for a 3D animated film – a cartoon – inspired by Attar’s works. Of course, the movie will be for children.
Truth: Do you have anything to add?
Samadi Ahadi: All colleagues and actors in this movie were really wonderful. There was a good feeling on the set, even the cameraman and my assistant, who are German and do not know Farsi, were so moved during the filming that they cried. The group’s understanding of the subject we were building helped a lot and I have to thank them.
Truth: I forgot to ask. When were you born? What stages have you intensively gone through until today?
Samadi Ahadi: I was born in 1350 in Tabriz. Since I was 12 years old during the war, my parents put me on a plane and sent me to Germany. After primary education, I entered the Faculty of Visual Communication. And I started learning and making animation. Besides this work, I studied in the field of social sciences. I made my first movie in Africa. I worked there for about ten years. The last of which was “Lost Children” in 2005, which made it to the Oscar short list. In 2009, I made “Salami Alaikum”, which has humor, which is about Iranian immigrants in Germany. Apart from these, I really like to make films for children. Previously, I had made the movie “Journey to the Moon” in the style of a cartoon, which sold a lot in various countries and was also dubbed into Farsi, and in France, about 650 thousand people saw it. This is a German film for children.