- „Paolos Glück“ (2021) - 23. September 2023
- „Renfield“ (2023) - 22. September 2023
- „It’s Nice in Here“ (2022) - 21. September 2023
The original english language interview is also available.
Erzähl mir mehr zu den gesellschaftlichen Hintergründen, warum hast Du Dich dafür entschieden diesen Kurzfilm zu drehen?
Du schaffst es eine recht objektive Position zu beziehen – wie es Dir das bei diesem Thema gelungen?
Wie hast Du die Familie, die du portraitierst, kennengelernt und wie hat die Annäherung funktioniert?
Wie war ihre Reaktion auf den fertigen Film?
Sie haben die Endfassung noch nicht gesehen, aber ich habe ihnen genau gesagt, was in dem Film passiert, um sicherzustellen, dass sie damit einverstanden sind. Er hat bereits einen Eindruck bei ihnen hinterlassen. Asal erwägt jetzt, eine Ausbildung zu machen. Der Vater hat beschlossen, an ihrer Ehe festzuhalten und sie zu unterstützen, bis sie aufs College geht, egal, was alle anderen denken oder sagen.
Hattest Du auch visuellen Vorstellungen, wie der Film aussehen sollte? In welchem Rahmen konntest Du sie umsetzen?
Über welchen Zeitraum hast Du gedreht?
Fast fünf Monate hin und her. Größtenteils, bevor Covid kam. Nach der ersten Woche der Dreharbeiten begann ich, das Exposé mit meinen Cuttern zu teilen und die Geschichte mit ihnen durchzusprechen, und sie begannen, die Rushes zu überprüfen und zu bearbeiten, bevor wir mit den Dreharbeiten fertig waren. Der gesamte Prozess von der Idee bis zum Dreh dauerte zwei Jahre.
Kannst Du mir am Schluss noch ein bisschen mehr von dir erzählen und wie Du zum Filmemachen gekommen bist?
Wie wird es weitergehen? Bleibst Du dem Dokumentarfilm treu? Sind schon neue Projekte geplant?
Ich mache gerade einen MA-Kurs im Spielfilmbereich. Ich kann nicht zwischen Dokumentar- und Spielfilm unterscheiden und sagen, dass ich Dokumentar- oder Spielfilm machen werde. Ich entscheide mich dafür, wenn ich mit einer Geschichte/einem Problem/einem Fall konfrontiert werde, über den ich unbedingt einen Film machen möchte. Dann entscheide ich, ob ich einen Spielfilm oder einen Dokumentarfilm mache, basierend auf der spezifischen Idee/Geschichte und dem Potenzial, das sie hat.
Die Fragen stellte Doreen Matthei
Übersetzung von Michael Kaltenecker
Lies auch die Rezension des Kurzfilms „The Doll“
Interview: In our conversation with Iranian filmmaker Elahe Esmaili, we were able to learn more about her 33-minute documentary “The Doll” (OT: “عروسک”), how she became aware of the family and its story, how she approached it, and how she manages to take an objective position on this strongly emotional topic.
Tell me about the social background of why you decided to make this short film.
It’s a current issue that girls in my society are dealing with. I have seen so many family and friends who married very young and they regret it. It’s always been a problem, and sadly still it is something that so many young girls are suffering from. I could feel the necessity of questioning this issue and looking deeper at some of the involved factors.
You manage to take quite an objective position – how did you manage to do that with this subject?
Spotting some very wrong attitudes, I got shocked so many times behind the camera. But I did know I don’t want to judge them and take sides based on what they say. I realized it’s a complicated situation and wanted to explore the dynamics and their beliefs and as many factors as possible so that I would understand the reasons leading them into this decision better. I tried to keep the exploring attitude in the film as well so the audience can experience something similar to what I discovered. I didn’t want to jump to conclusions before they knew about the characters and I believe once they got to know them, they would spot the wrongs as well. So I preferred to let the audience have their own journey and takeaway.
How did you meet the family you portray and how did the approach work?
I approached them through a family member who knew them and introduced them to me. We had an initial conversation and we told them I’m going to make a film out of Asal’s marriage. Her father easily agreed at first but I had some challenges with them while filming, especially when it came to very personal stories that they weren’t comfortable opening up. But I managed to work out their concerns and they ended up telling their personal story willingly.
What was their reaction to the finished film?
They haven’t seen the final cut yet but I told them exactly what’s going on in the film to make sure they’re happy with it. It already left an impact on them. Asal is considering pursuing her education now. The father decided to hold on to her marriage and support her until she gets to college, regardless of what everyone else thinks or says.
Did you have any visual ideas about how the film should look? In what context were you able to realize it?
I knew it would be an interview-based documentary in which these people would separately tell their own version of the story. I just wanted to depict Asal’s life in some other different situations to be able to get to know her better. I didn’t know exactly what kind of situation I’m gonna shoot at first, but as it went further I picked the exact things I felt were the best to characterize her. Skatepark, the way to school, after a date with the boy and over an argument with her dad. These 3 were the best for me to show how young she is and how excited she gets with a casual boy-girl romantic relationship.
Over what period of time did you shoot?
Almost 5 month back and forth. Mostly before Covid hit. I started to share the synopsis and talk through the story with my editors after the first week of shooting and they started to review the rushes and edit it before we finished filming. The whole process from idea to screen took 2 years.
Can you tell me a bit more about yourself at the end and how you got into filmmaking?
I’ve always been into art since my childhood. I was separated from it as my profession for a few years because of family pressure on me. They believe art is not a proper field for a woman to be in and I had to give it up. But after a few years when I got older and got control over my life I immediately changed my career to art again. I thought I need to tell stories about my childhood and teenage experiences and also so many other stories that I’ve seen happening to my friends and family members, so I chose filmmaking which I loved and was the best match with my goals and skills.
How will it continue? Will you stay true to documentary filmmaking? Are there any new projects planned?
I’m doing a MA course in fiction filmmaking at the moment. I can’t divide documentary and fiction and say I’m gonna be a documentary maker or fiction filmmaker, I’ll decide about it when I face a story/issue/case and I find myself desperate to make a film about. That’s when I decide about fiction or documentary based on the specific idea/story and the potential in it.
Questions asked by Doreen Matthei
Read on the german review of the shortfilm “The Doll“