|
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian director Bahman
Ghobadi had no intention of making the first feature
film to emerge from post-war Iraq, but the children
he met in
northern Iraq left him with no choice.
Ghobadi's compelling film "Turtles Can Fly", which
follows a group of Iraqi Kurd orphans in the days
before the fall of Saddam Hussein, has scooped
festival awards in the United States, Spain and
Japan and is Iran's entry for the Oscars.
But it was almost never made.
"I was not supposed to make 'Turtles Can Fly'. At
that time, I was making an urban film in Tehran just
before the war started in Iraq," Ghobadi, 36, told
Reuters in an interview.
During a trip to Iraq shortly after Saddam's fall to
show his second feature "Marooned in Iraq", Ghobadi
was mesmerised by the young Kurds he saw, many
maimed by landmines and scarred by the brutality of
Saddam's regime.
"When I saw these children, the issue changed for
me. When I returned to Iran I couldn't sleep for a
while and I realised this is it. I stopped the
project and went to Iraq to make this film," he
said.
"This is an anti-war film and my personal view of
the U.S. war in Iraq. The film shows real pictures
of the lives of the Iraqis today," he added.
Filmed on location in Iraqi Kurdistan under the
protection of 30 bodyguards and using
non-professional actors, "Turtles Can Fly" paints a
different picture of Iraq than the one most Western
audiences have seen through satellite news channels.
"(U.S. President George W.) Bush and Saddam had
become the superstars on the satellite channels. I
showed the opposite of this. The superstars in my
film were people and children and Saddam and Bush
were in the background," he said.
UNTRAINED CHILD ACTORS
As with his highly acclaimed debut feature "A Time
for Drunken Horses" it is Ghobadi's ability to draw
remarkable performances from young untrained actors
that has impressed festival jurors and touched
audiences.
He spent months combing
northern Iraq to find children to play the parts
of a 13-year-old Satellite, named for his ability to
rig up reception for TV channels bringing news of
the war; an armless boy who disarms landmines with
his teeth; and his mysterious and haunted sister.
"If you want the audience to believe your movie you
must bring elements of reality such as real
locations and real stories. If it's not real then
the amateur actors who play in my films won't be
able to perform well. They act well because it's
their own story and because they have experienced
it," he said.
Ghobadi said he felt it his duty to help the young
actors.
Thus, a blind three-year-old toddler whom Satellite
rescues from a minefield in the film has had
operations to restore his sight and Soran Ebrahim,
who plays Satellite, will work as assistant director
on an upcoming project with another Ghobadi protege
who starred in one of his earlier films.
Enthused by making "Turtles Can Fly", which opens in
London on January 7, Ghobadi plans another film in
Iraq and says the long-dormant Iraqi film industry
has begun to stir.
"Film projects have started. Movie theatres which
had been closed for almost 30 years are now being
re-opened," he said, while cautioning that the
process will take time.
"It has only been in the last decade that Iranian
films are going to the international market. No one
should expect today's Iraqi cinema to achieve this
with its first productions."
Ghobadi, an Iranian Kurd, is lending his backing and
experience, helping to set up a filmmaking institute
in
northern Iraq and equipping cinemas there.
© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.
Top |
® 