One of filmmaking’s greatest powers is its ability to offer an audience a new perspective. To show them something they haven’t seen before or to reveal a viewpoint in which they can place themselves. This is power is central to filmmaker Elahe Esmaili’s documentary short A Move, which sees Esmaili return to her hometown in Mashhad, Iran after being inspired by the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. The film covers the reaction Esmaili’s family have to her embracing of the movement, from quiet conversations in the back of a car to subtle gestures at a communal gathering. It’s a fascinating insight into the pushback and repercussions faced by women in Iran who are looking to change their lives for the better. With A Move screening at Sheffield Doc/Fest this week (13th & 14th June), DN caught up with Esmaili – who last joined us with her child bride documentary The Doll – to discuss the challenges she faced making this film, the intimate production necessary to pull it off, and her vision for the conversation it can inspire.
Where did the idea come from to make a film that blends the personal with the notions of the woman-life-freedom movement?
The producer and I had an idea of making a film about wearing hijab by force just a few months before the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran. We were slowly developing it when the moment hit and the crackdown started. Everything changed afterwards. If I had concerns and considerations before regarding appearing in public without a hijab as a filmmaker and facing the political consequences, it had happened to so many female artists that they got banned from working because of being without hijab in public, I no longer cared about that. Young lives were murdered and it changed everything.
So the producer and I were more determined to make a film about that. We thought as the fight was going on in the streets and women bravely resisted by not wearing hijab in public, which puts them at the risk of arrest, a fine and whip, we could bring it home and capture how this is going to affect families, and how the change could be accelerated by bringing it to home and make the cultural change happening faster. We hoped we could break that chain of oppression that starts from the extremist governments and spreads to religious and conservative families.
Capturing the embrace of the movement is incredibly brave. When you began thinking about how it would all come together, did you have any concerns about how your family and friends would react?
In the beginning we thought our biggest issue would be Hossein! The very religious figure of our family. But as it went I realized my parents were more of an issue than Hossein. It’s their fear of Hossein’s reaction that puts fuel in this oppressive system. So I focused on that more. It wasn’t just my parents, my aunts and uncles also witnessed it and my cousins are now in a much better position as well. I wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to wear a hijab, there were already five or six women and girls in that garden that day wearing hijab by force of their parents.
We thought as the fight was going on on the streets and women bravely resisted by not wearing hijab in public, which puts them at the risk of arrest, a fine and whip, we could bring it home and capture how this is going to affect families.
Given the intimacy of the documentary, how did you approach crewing and shooting without being too distracting?
As it was a very personal film and my family were in the middle of a move, I needed to go on set with a minimal crew. So I had a cinematographer, Mehdi Azadi, who was brilliant and I was so lucky to have him. Especially as I was in front of the camera half of the time, I needed to be sure of what was happening on camera, and Mehdi made me “phew” with his expertise and talent. I had a sound recordist who had a very difficult job on the busy scenes as they were alone, but they did a brilliant job. Unfortunately, due to the political situation, they decided to go anonymous. Same with our super talented colorist, they also decided to be credited anonymously for safety reasons.
Who else did you collaborate with during post-production?
I worked with my dream team in post-production, Delaram Shemirani, a genius editor who I had worked with three times, and Ensiyeh Maleki who is the best of the best at the magic she does with sound. My first time, but definitely not last time working with Afshin Azizi, a fantastic composer who added a lot to the film with his art.
Most Popular
A Move screens twice at Sheffield DocFest this week, what has it been like finding a space for this film on the festival circuit?
The producer, also named Hossein (Behboudi Rad), who generated this idea was supportive throughout and respected my vision and artistry from the get-go, to the point that we got a great premiere at Visions du Réel. He has tried so hard to make the best things happen for this film.
As it was a very personal film and my family were in the middle of a move, I needed to go on set with a minimal crew.
How have your family reacted to the completed film?
I screened the film for my family just a few weeks ago at the new home! While watching, they laughed, cried and hugged each other. Afterwards, my sisters thanked me for resisting despite their concerns and insistence on the garden day. They both mentioned what an easier life it would be for their daughters who are now 16, 13, and 8. They were also proud of their little sister for being able to make a film, ha! My dad realised many things and looked back at how he had been treating his daughters. He was sorry and we, the girls, had a good chat with him afterwards. My mum made no comments, only smiled at me at the end of the film.
I think our solidarity will make us more powerful and enable us to fight our ‘real’ oppressors, and the inhuman systems with more power.
There’s that great shot, which features in the trailer too, of your parents getting ready where we see the difference in their clothing, were shots like that planned or found in the moment? How much of A Move was planned versus being spontaneous?
Yes, I had plans to show them in their space with that wall between the rooms so I had been shooting them for a few minutes when I got that shot. The beautiful coincidence happened when my dad passed the camera and the hallway to go to his room and he got to the chair and sat exactly at the same moment my mum sits in her prayer. That’s when my eyes shone and I told my cinematographer that we got it! I can name so many symbolic reads from that shot, the relation of it to the rest of the film and what it means to me, but I would rather leave it to the audience and let them interpret/feel it in their own way.
It’s that horribly broad question but what are you hoping audiences take away from watching A Move?
I hope we can see the ease and joy in accepting each other as we are, not forcing our ideas onto each other, and practicing co-existence in our everyday routine. I see it as a worldwide issue, look at how the tensions have been escalating amongst people regarding the Gaza war in the last six months while a genocide is happening and Palestinian children and innocent people are getting murdered. I think our solidarity will make us more powerful and enable us to fight our ‘real’ oppressors, and the inhuman systems with more power. In Iran, it is against the patriarchal dictatorship called the Islamic Republic regime, in other regions, it is against other brutal systems.
What does the future look like for your filmmaking?
I make both docs and fiction films. I am developing my next doc as well as writing a script for my debut feature fiction. I am trying so hard to keep myself on the path I’ve been on for the past five to six years and make films that need to be made, the stories of women that need to be heard, and need to be told from a female perspective with that sensibility and life-experience. However, I recently finished my course at my film school and it’s been difficult establishing myself as a filmmaker in a new country. New continent actually! But I hope I can carry on in the UK and receive the support I need, regardless of my ethnicity and passport!
