New Delhi, Oct 4: Filmmaker Sreemoyee Singh says she discovered Iranian feminist poet Forugh Farrokhzad’s works when she was a university student and that gave shape to a desire to visit the country and document the stories of its people in “And, Towards Happy Alleys”. The 75-minute documentary is a peek into the struggle of women, artists, and political dissidents in Iran. It is streaming on MUBI India.
The first-time filmmaker believes “And, Towards Happy Alleys” is as much about India as it is about Iran. The movie, shot in Tehran, is political but tackles issues of censorship in the country through the lens of cinema, music and poetry, she said.
“I have been singing and writing poetry all my life. Being able to express something in the right way matters to me. When I read Forugh Farrokhzad, I knew I had to go to Iran and meet these people, artists and understand how they find ways to be inspired,” Singh told PTI in an interview. “I knew that I had to film their stories and, hopefully, something will shape up. We have seen so many political things around us where we have not been allowed to preserve who we are through our art. It never felt like it was not my story to tell,” she added. Not having the baggage of expectations helped Singh capture moments of truth, whether it was meeting ordinary people on the streets or interacting with Iranian directors like Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Shirvani , known for resisting government censorship at great personal risk. Singh, a PhD degree holder in film studies from Kolkata’s Jadavpur University, considers the film her love letter to Iranian cinema and filmmakers because the first window to its culture was through movies. She remembers being surprised at how these films challenged her perception of the country which was known to her as a place of conflict.
“You don’t think you will see such hopeful stories. I was curious to know where they found the inspiration to just have so much hope and the idea that life must go on despite what’s happening around.
“I was reading Persian poetry because when you are taught the Iranian new wave, hopefully, good teachers will read out the poetry that inspired this cinema. Poetry, as a form of art, preceded everything else in Iran. It is the most important method of expression in a place like Iran.” Farrokhzad’s poetry, she said, spoke to her younger self, with its expression of desire which could be “just to have a Coca-Cola, warmth of the sun or desire as we understand it”.
The director was surprised that Farrokhzad, whose poem has inspired the title of the documentary, spoke of desire in a place like Iran through her writings. Farrokhzad died in a car accident in 1967 at the age of 32.
Singh also found it easy to learn Persian, a language that once connected India and Iran, and that gave her an access to the culture, which would not have been possible had she been a regular tourist or someone from the West.
“I was expecting the kindness of the people that I saw in films but people were even kinder there. They made me so comfortable. They protected me and became like family. “And people are crazy about our cinema. Like Hindi cinema that reaches Iran… Films of Raj Kapoor, ‘Sholay’ and everything… They are just crazy about it… India is not even a land they consider far off from their country. So, I was loved even more.” (PTI)
