Manijeh Hekmat and Faezeh Azizkhani are two established Iranian directors who are co-writing and co-directing for the first time on the drama Fear & Trembling.
Hekmat started her decades-long career as a producer before moving into directing; her films, including Women’s Prison (2002), Three Women (2007) and Bandar Band (2020), have premiered at festivals including Venice, Berlin and Toronto.
Azizkhani studied at the film workshops of Abbas Kiarostami, who also served as an advisor on her debut feature, For a Rainy Day (2015). Her second feature, 2022’s The Locust, travelled to Karlovy Vary, SXSW and Edinburgh.
Fear & Trembling has its world premiere in the main competition at IFFI Goa. Amaneh Agharezakashi stars as Manzar, an aging woman set in her ways with strong fundamentalist beliefs who further loses touch with her family when her niece is imprisoned for not wearing a hijab.
Azizkhani will attend Goa alongside producer Ahmad Azizkhani. Irimage handles sales.
This interview was conducted via email and translated from Farsi to English; it has been edited for length and clarity.
You’re coming from two different generations of filmmakers in Iran. Why did you decide to work together as co-writers and co-directors?
Hekmat: In the changing situation of filmmaking in Iran, I have always done my best to make new waves inside the country. About 12 years ago, the state started its project to control Iranian cinema and stop the last breath of truly independent films. So, based on the teachings of European cinema and American cinema, I tried to start a low-budget movement. I saw that the modern approaches of the younger filmmakers, especially new Iranian women filmmakers, would influence the works of all of us. Working with a younger woman helps me to see the world as the new generation observes it. In 2022, I produced Faeze’s film The Locust. For Fear & Trembling, it was so lovely to work with her as co-writer and co-director, especially when dealing with such a vital subject.
Azizkhani: As you say, we are of two generations, but we have a common language. For storytellers, story is a language, connecting us to each other – especially in our times, when women and women’s rights are being ignored. We should stand against inequality and tell stories about it. [In Iran] it’s a dire situation for filmmakers, so we have to fight to make our low-budget movies. Manijeh is a real fighter. Her deep sociological views are unique and she has courage, as well as a knowledge of cinema for the past 50 years. If she is willing, I would love to work with her time and time again.
How does the film show how pressures might be different on Manzar and her niece?
Hekmat: When studying the history of the actions against women rights, you find names of some female historical figures who only gave priority to their own beliefs. In many parts of the world, there are some women robbing the liberty of the other women, based on their own ideological beliefs, or concealing the truth for the sake of their own benefit. The new generation believes that they are not obliged to carry the cross of the misery on their shoulders when the world is getting uglier.
Azizkhani: It is interesting that Manzar harms not only the others, but also herself. When she finds herself broken and abandoned, she can see that she is the first victim in the path she has chosen.
As female directors from Iran, how important is it for you to tell stories of what reality is like for Iranian women in modern society?
Hekmat: The demands of Iranian women are not so different from the demands of women all around the world. Women have to look at the core of the problem as a global issue and try to solve it with all we’ve got – even if the fight is different in different countries. Women like us are residing in the lands of the sorrow, and we do anything to take a step forward. It is dark, bitter days for us independent filmmakers who are living and staying in Iran, but we should try to find some models of filmmaking to continue our work, even with very small resources. We should portray the pains of women to fight for their rights.
Azizkhani: Nowadays, you can see that in different parts of the world, women are ready to give their lives for basic rights and a brighter future. Every woman has got an impressive story to tell the world. After the movement ’Woman, Life, Freedom’ started in Iran [in 2022], everyone has a responsibility to reflect the stories of Iranian women with different attitudes and approaches for the future. As a filmmaker, I believe that I should focus on these stories today.
Why was actress Amaneh Agharezakashi right to play Manzar?
Hekmat: We knew Amaneh’s abilities as an actor very well – and, as a matter of fact, she is Faeze’s mother. We needed someone to play an average fundamentalist who has accepted to be left alone for the sake of her ideological attitudes and won’t compromise. We have a lot of these women in Iran. We were trying to find someone to play a mother who has driven away all her relatives including her children. We were so sure that Amaneh would be the perfect choice. We are so happy with her performance.
What do you hope the audience can take away from watching your film?
Hekmat: I hope that the film would be seen widely and make a good impression in a world where the new generations are looking for a better future. All of us should know more about the radical, ideological attitudes that lead to isolation and destruction in the name of seeking justice. I would like to see the audience think of the importance of making progress and not giving up.
Azizkhani: And of course, we hope that it could open a window to the lives of fundamentalist people, enabling us to see them with no prejudice. With prejudice, everyone can make a hell for others in different aspects of personal, family, social and even global life. When some women claim that ideology is superior to any human emotions and that violence is more vital than loving others, it is a necessity to look into their loneliness and misery.
Are there any other international plans for the film after Goa?
Azizkhani: So many film festivals are limiting their selections of Iranian cinema to a few outstanding titles, mainly produced by European companies. I hope that more festivals also start to consider films like ours produced independently with very small resources inside Iran.
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