Iranian auteur wants to make film on India

Shahed Ahmedlou, whose Cinema Donkey is a sensation at BIFFes, is keen on putting his Indian impressions into a film

The Iranian film ‘Cinema Donkey’ has turned out to be one of the biggest hits at BIFFes this year. It is a comedy about filmmaking. Directed by Shahed Ahmadlou, it is drawing huge crowds.

The film opens with two men going in search of a donkey. They go from one house to the next but nobody wants to lend a donkey for a film shoot. Tired, the men finally find a white donkey standing in a forest. They conclude it is abandoned and bundle it into the van and take it to the location.

The producer is happy but the director insists on a black donkey. The search resumes. After a futile hunt, the two men decide to paint the donkey black. Do they still shoot? Does the colour fade? Ahmadlou answers some of these questions in his film.

Ahmadlou, who has flown in for BIFFes, told Showtime the film explores the contrast between animals and human beings. "A donkey is generally considered one with no brains, willing to take up a lot of load. Human beings are considered superior and exploit such weaknesses in animals," he says

Ahmadlou hails from a family of filmmakers, and used to assist his father, a well-known director, before he turned director. "I grew up watching how cinema is made and how it can change and influence people. I also saw how my father and his brothers struck a balance between their personal and professional lives. I saw how they clung onto their passion in spite of the many challenges. I began with short films and now cinema is an integral part of my life," he says.

Being a filmmaker in Iran is not easy. "When there are hurdles at every step, the challenge of making a film gets bigger and bigger," he says.

The government is not supportive when it comes to promoting and popularising the arts and so actors and directors pool in their money to make films, he explains.

His question: "Independent directors support themselves, but what about those who want to get into filmmaking but don't have the resources?”

He says Iran has no institutes where aspiring actors can be trained. He recalls one particular challenge: “I used a donkey in 'Cinema Donkey' but we don't have any facilities where animals can be trained and we don't have people trained in the art of handling animals either. These are some of the challenges that we face."

Ahmedou enjoys Bollywood and has lost count of the number of times he has watched 'Sholay'. "I know every scene like the back of my hand," he says. He has watched almost all films of Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra and admires the work of directors Satyajit Ray and Ramesh Sippy.

He wishes to make a film about India someday, "There are a few things about India that have remained with me. I want to bring them out in the form of a film, provided I have some financial assistance from here," he says.

The 44-year-old director has an excellent support system in his wife Bahar Danesh and daughter. "My wife is an engineer by profession but she's very encouraging of my work," he says, beaming.

'Cinema Donkey' is one of the eight nominees from the 'A Window on Asian Cinema' section of 2019 Busan International Film Festival to get the Kim Ji-seok award, presented just before it arrived at BIFFes.