_{About Me by Ali Asgari}

The 15-minute short About Me (premiering in Warsaw’s International Short Film Competition and also due to show in Tallinn) is the latest in a series of films made by Iranian director Ali Asgari in which women deal with tough and sometimes humiliating events in their private lives.

The 17-year old, sad-eyed, hijab-wearing Fatima (Mayra Pitambersingh) is rushed by her father to the hospital. Fatima holds a secret that could change her fate so she must place her trust in a doctor to make a tough decision between cultural tradition and medical ethics. The tension builds. What will the doctor say to her father?

Writer-director Asgari heard the story about a girl in Italy enduring a similar experience. “I adapted it to the Netherlands.” His Dutch [but Iranian-born] producer Maryam Tarami organised a casting call and that was how he found Pitambersingh. “She said I don’t have the experience and I said ‘don’t worry about it,” the director recalls. He often works with non-professionals and could see her talent immediately.

Asgari first met producer Tarami in 2014. They talked then about working together. Eight years later, it has finally happened. “I gave her some stories and she liked this one.”

About Me was made through Damondi Works and is sold internationally by Lights On. It was shot in different locations mainly around Amsterdam. This wasn’t a big budget project. Certain compromises and some creative use of geography were required. The doctor’s office was in one place while the waiting room was in another.

Ask the director about his influences and he cites filmmakers like Belgian Palme D’Or winners the Dardennes, Hungarian master Béla Tarr, Austrian Michael Haneke and the great Greek director Theo Angelopoulos.

“There are directors whose work I admire but I try not to make films in the way they did. I like their films and sometimes unconsciously I am inspired by them.”

Asgari has a growing reputation on the international festival circuit. Several of the director’s previous films (including Silence and Disappearance) were co-directed with Farnoosh Samadi but now Asgari has branched out on his own. His most recent shorts and his feature Until Tomorrow, produced through French outfit Novoprod, were also solo directorial efforts. His work has been selected at A-festivals such as Berlin and Cannes.

Born in Iran in 1982, Asgari is a much travelled figure. “I lived in Iran until I was 25. Then I moved to Italy to study. Then I moved for one year to France… Now, I travel to Europe, but I am based in Iran.”

As for working in Iran itself, that is not at all straightforward. “Of course, these days especially, there are some problems with making films in Iran because there are new regulations and the government is really restrictive toward independent filmmakers.” His feature Until Tomorrow was shot in Iran - but that was made two years ago. “Screening films there is [also] a problem,” he adds. “It is not impossible… but it is difficult.”

Many directors regard shorts as a stepping stone rather than an art form in their own right. That’s not Asgari’s attitude. “You have more freedom when you make short films. You don’t have that conflict which comes with features. There is not a lot of money involved and so there are not so many expectations. It’s very difficult to make feature films,” he sighs.

What’s more, it can take two years or more to set up a feature. “In this period, it is very important you don’t lose your creativity… and personally I like the ideas of shorts, 15 or 20 minutes to tell a story. It’s a good medium for practising and talking about important subjects in a very short running time.” Right now Asgari is preparing a new short which he hopes to shoot in November, possibly in Berlin.

About Me is produced by Damondi Works. Sales are handled by Lights On. For more information on Warsaw International FIlm Festival 2022, click here.
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