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Hello, and welcome to this commentary track for Black Rabbit, White Rabbit.
My name is Tori Vitenza.
I am a programmer for Brooklyn Horror Film Festival.
I'm also a writer and critic.
You can find my bylines with Movie John, Dread Central, Ghouls Mag, Certified
Forgotten, and Horror Press, amongst others.
And you can find my physical media contributions at Second Sight,
Vinegar Syndrome, Arrow, and 88 Films.
So, Black Rabbit, White Rabbit is the 2025
release from Iranian filmmaker Sharam Makhri.
And this is his fifth feature film.
Although he is an Iranian filmmaker, this was actually filmed in Tajikistan.
And ultimately, this was the entry for the Academy Awards
that the country sent in for Best International Feature Film.
It's not too uncommon for Iranian filmmakers to work outside of the country,
especially considering a lot of the upheaval within that country that's been
happening and a lot of the strict censorship laws in Iran.
Now, this is a really interesting film for me as
someone who's a little bit newer to Sharam's work.
The film is described as a mystery thriller.
And it didn't necessarily feel that way to me when I first started it.
Especially considering the humor that the film really has.
It was not the type of mystery thriller I really expected.
And as I explored more of his work and was prepping for this commentary, I really
began to understand the puzzle box structure that Sharam goes for with most
of his films, which really lends itself well to
unveiling a story for the people that are viewing it.
So, it's definitely a different kind of mystery thriller.
It's also just a very interesting film.
It's a beautifully crafted film.
Even watching this opening scene here, I think the
colors, the blue and the yellow are just so vibrant.
And watching some of his earlier work, you can
definitely tell it was a little bit more low budget.
So, really interesting watching that compared to his latest feature.
There's a very distinct feeling watching his films, especially
after watching multiple back-to-back in preparation.
For the commentary, there's this dreamlike feeling to all of them.
And in some ways, you need to turn off part of your brain that really wants to be
grappling for answers and just be present and sit
with what you're viewing and how it plays out.
What you feel and conjure watching it feels much more important
than trying to dissect and understand every part of it.
Ultimately, that feels less interesting and more
difficult because his films play into magical realism.
So, while much of his work is steeped in and inspired by real life, there's a
playfulness and magic that is different from what we know in the real world.
So, trying to apply the logic of our real worlds can be a bit fruitless.
And his work really leaves a lot for audiences to infer on their own.
I was reading an article about what reactions were
like to this when it was making its festival run.
And people seemed perplexed by it, but also very engaged with the material.
Although they said that one of the most common questions that people asked first.
during the Q&A's for this was, what is this movie even about?
I think it's something that's hard for people to do, to turn off their brains.
But it's often one of the more enjoyable ways to watch a film, in my opinion.
Just let everything happening wash over you and really be present with what's going on.
And as you watch more of Sharam's work, there's a lot of similarities and
similarities in the overarching style and structure.
But all of them feel really different.
This one included.
Each feels completely unique.
And I think Black Rabbit, White Rabbit takes a lot of the ideas that he's been
working with, a lot of the playing with structure, and some of the thematic
elements that we'll get into more as this goes on.
But really, each one has a totally different tone, production design,
mood, and all play key roles in the world that he's creating.
And each feels totally unique, even though it has
this puzzle-like structure, which is much like M.C.
Escher's work, which is what was an inspiration for this
film and several of the other films in his filmography.
He discusses this process and talks a lot about how working on his films is a lot
like a theater stage, which makes a lot of sense when you think about it,
considering that his longtime collaborator and partner, Naseem Ahmedpour,
comes from a theater background.
So you can really feel some of her influence on different ideas that Sharam
was already working on before they started collaborating.
When discussing his process, they talk about how you have a simple setup and then
you keep adding to it, layer by layer, as though, quote, we Photoshop several
moving images on top of each other and then remove the distance between these
images and watch all the different images at the same time.
Because of the one-shot structure that we see, and a lot of his work, diving into
how he prepares for films is really interesting.
Instead of storyboards, they make a 3D model where the
cast and crew can have an aerial view of the action.
And from there, they can envision the placement and movement of actors,
kind of like a Dollhouse, at least how I picture it.
They sit around the model and determine the location of the action.
The actors would make changes as needed and determine the camera movements and so on.
Another similarity between the method of filmmaking and
theater is between the rehearsal and recording he talks about.
There's an interval where they experiment with trial
and error and make small changes along the way.
But everything, every little detail, has to come into context.
And that's a big consideration.
And while sometimes the plot itself might feel a little loose, and it's kind of hard
to get your grounding as to what's going on, because of the cyclical time loop
nature of his films, you can really sense how
expertly all of these elements are put together.
The main woman on screen now is one of the leads.
She plays a woman named Sarah.
And this is an esteemed Tajik actor named Hasti Mohammeh.
I really love the look and design of this house.
You can see elements of some different M .C.
Escher inspirations all over the place.
You can see elements of some different M .C.
Painting in the background.
There's also so many different paintings and
artwork of butterflies all over the place.
Which ties into one of Escher's more famous
works, Metamorphosis and Metamorphosis II.
And then, of course, we see a lot of weaponry as well.
And I think that opening quote that we saw about, like,
why would you mount the gun if you weren't going to use it?
Plays a really big role in this.
Neshera Makhri was born in 1978.
He worked as a film critic for Film Magazine, which
is one of the more prominent arts magazines in Iran.
Also lectured at film schools and taught filmmaking throughout Iran.
And also served on the executive board for screening
art and experience feature films in Tehran.
And also served on the executive board for screening
Which is the capital of Iran.
Many of the staples of his work that we see here and throughout his filmography
are things like blurring the lines between reality and fiction, doppelgangers,
stories within stories.
A focus on filmmaking.
And these tend to get a little meta.
Sharam even kind of making himself this ghostly figure.
In the background.
Always talked about once we get to the portions of the film that are on the film set.
It's really interesting looking into some of his influences.
When I was preparing for this, I found the BFI Sight and Sound Greatest
Film list of all time that he put together.
And some of the ones listed were films like Citizen Kane, Vertigo.
He talks about eight nights.
One and a half.
And quotes that the film is as much about real life as it is about cinema.
And it's as much about living in the dream as about trying to give it up.
Which feels like it applies in many ways to this film as well.
Another one is Monholland Drive.
Which I love the idea of Lynch potentially
being an influence in some of the work he does.
I think Sharam in a different way.
That's similar.
Tows that line between like whimsy.
Things being really sentimental.
But also not necessarily hiding away from some of the darkness of the world.
Sharam was a film lover from an early age.
Talked about how his father was a cinephile and collected.
But at the time growing up.
He said it was during those initial years of the Iranian revolution.
So actual access to fictional media and storytelling was really limited.
And the city where he grew up.
He said there were no films being shown in cinemas at the time.
So for someone that had such a passion.
And came into a family that had that passion.
There was a little bit of a void.
In terms of what media he actually had access to.
And most of that growing up was just what he could see on TV.
Which tended to be Japanese movies that were dubbed or television series.
And then he said later when video became available in the country.
The majority were American films.
And you can see a lot of American genre films throughout his filmography.
Being big influences.
Now Sharam and Nassim have been working together for several years.
They write the screenplays together.
And then Makri does the directing.
And their professional relationship began with the film Fish and Cat.
Which you can find actually on Deaf Crocodile's other release of Makri's work.
The Time Bending Mysteries of Sharam Makri.
The two continued working together with his films Invasion.
As well as Careless Crime.
Also included on that same box set.
And the two are around the same age.
Grew up in the same generation.
So sort of had similar experiences when it came to what media they had access to.
But as I mentioned Nassim has a theater background.
She's a theater director, dramatist and screenwriter.
And she co-founded the theater group Don Quixote in Tehran in 2003.
For which she's written and directed several plays.
In 2018 she won the award for best play script
at the Toronto International Short Film Festival.
And because of the strict government laws on both women and performing arts.
Recent plays she's done such as The Report on the Judgment Day.
Had to be performed in a private underground hall in the city's capital.
She said her interest in theater did not stem from watching plays.
As there were no real plays being performed at the time in her hometown.
She said she loved literature and wanted to study creative writing.
But universities did not offer those courses.
So theater and playwriting ended up being the closest thing.
And I definitely like the idea of that theatrical background.
Playing a role into the overall structure of these films.
I think a lot of times when I think of movies that feel like theater experiences.
They're often these really small contained worlds.
And don't feel as expansive as the ones that Sharam's creating.
Especially in Black Rabbit, White Rabbit.
We just keep seeing more and more elements.
So it's really impressive.
The way that they're able to... construct these huge productions.
That have so many different elements going on.
In terms of Sharam's other films in his filmography.
There's the film Careless Crime that I mentioned.
Which is about four people who decide to set fire to a cinema.
Packed with people.
A lot of his films get recognition at different film festivals.
So this won the Golden Bassatto Screenwriter Award.
For the Independent Critics Association in Venice.
Careless Crime also won the Silver Hugo at the Chicago Film Festival.
And one of the comparisons for that one is Hitchcock's Vertigo.
Which was listed in his top films of all time.
And that one in particular is about the burning of the rec cinema.
Which was a large event that happened really close to his birthday.
The year he was born.
There's also the film Invasion from 2017.
Which is a science fiction detective slash vampire story.
It screened at the 68th Berlin Film Festival.
And was nominated for the Teddy Award.
Citing inspirations like this one.
The film Liquid Sky.
Which is not one I hear spoken about very frequently in larger film circles.
So it's pretty cool to hear that as a reference here.
And the film is this interrogation.
But the way that the police do interrogations is by
acting out the events of the crime over and over again.
So you have this acting out different elements.
Sort of a play happening before you.
With this very similar structure.
That the two of them have been working with for some time.
Invasion was their most complex film.
Because of its structure and also the mathematics.
It was structured based on a mathematic equation.
Which I don't know how you based an entire film off a mathematical equation.
But because of that they really limited what they were allowed to do in scenes.
And because of that some scenes.
That maybe were intended to be shorter.
Had to be longer.
Or vice versa.
So she says that it looked like a rigid film.
She recalls festival selectors describing it as an impenetrable cube.
And because that ended up being one of their more challenging films.
They would discuss fine details.
And Nassim would suggest something.
And then Makri would come back saying.
The film structure doesn't allow for us to focus more on that character.
Or make that moment longer.
Everything needs to fit within the equation.
And I find that interesting.
Because there is that idea of having a lot of rules or guidelines.
And how that can foster a different type of creativity.
And I think it relates a little bit to Iranian cinema.
In the way that there are directors like Shahram.
Who have been making films in their country.
Really profound films that deal with really interesting subject material.
But nonetheless.
Because they have so many restrictions.
They have to show things in a certain way.
Do things in a certain way.
And he puts even more restrictions on himself.
With some of these larger structures that he creates.
And that whole film centers around a disease that is affecting all of humanity.
And then there's another disease within this world.
That specifically affects only authority figures.
Which again feels very political.
It's interesting that it came out in 2017.
Because it has so many elements that we really come to deal with.
During COVID-19.
Just three years later.
And they constantly talk about this border.
That people are moving in between.
Which as that movie plays on.
Really feels like it's talking about immigration.
People leaving the country.
And that sort of thing.
Especially when we talk about Iranian filmmakers.
Who end up leaving the country.
Because of limited artistic freedom.
I also think it's really interesting.
Because there are a lot of queer elements to this.
Including some like gender play.
Which at least from the information I know about Iranian cinema.
It seems very interesting that he's able to discuss that.
I want to build this place.
And come live in it.
I want to live with my grandfather over there.
I'm sick.
Come here.
Yes, we are sick.
All of our bodies are empty.
Do you want to get a divorce from your grandfather?
Not right now.
No.
Let's live separately.
Another one of Shiram's films that I mentioned.
Is Fishing Cat.
Which was from 2013.
And is when he and Nassim began working together.
And it follows a group of students.
That go to this fairly remote part of the country.
For this kite flying event.
During the winter solstice.
But unbeknownst to them.
Their camp starts being hunted.
By these three cooks.
Who work at a nearby restaurant.
Although it's not a very violent film.
It was inspired by 1970s slashers.
Like Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
And has that same cannibal element to it.
And apparently it topped the box office in Iran.
When it came out.
Which is not something you hear a lot.
About genre films in general.
But it's really interesting.
Seeing him create a slasher film.
That's purely indie art house.
Without those violent elements.
All of that is sort of happening.
In the backdrop of the film.
Going back to some of those political elements.
You have a lot of like the urban.
Versus rural populations.
Something that is also.
I think something you see in a lot of 70s.
American grindhouse films.
Like I Spit on Your Grave.
And some of the exploitation films.
Of the time.
But it's really interesting.
And then there's also that element.
Of the old.
Feeding off the young.
And I think.
Especially right now in Iran.
When so many young people.
Are fighting against the government.
And engaging in these huge protests.
You really feel.
The generational conflict.
I think we're all like.
Young men fighting each other.
And then you get these.
That when you think.
That in this world.
You don't see anything.
You see something.
That you can't.
And the other thing.
Is the sense of.
This is one of the interviews I found and
says that in theater, we do not have editing.
When you decide on a scene, you are choosing its destiny
and cannot do anything further during the performance.
She says the same things happen in their scripts.
They are fixed so that when you want to change a
location, you have to rewrite the whole script.
Which to me sounds a little bit maddening.
If you want to change one element, you have to change multiple elements.
But it's clearly something these two creatives have figured out how to do
together considering how often it's been a part of their work.
She says we cannot change the dialogue even
because everything has to be timed so perfectly.
There's a lot of play with doppelgangers in his work.
So these elements of mistaken identities and doppelgangers.
Are really interesting.
And feel a little eerie.
You don't get to explore them too too much.
And you don't even necessarily get answers to some of the
questions you might have about who these characters really are.
If there is some other person around that is just like them.
Or if they are that person.
But it brings in the idea of someone else out there that looks like you.
Does your work.
Perhaps there's some sort of replacement.
Feels a little bit like a body snatcher story in a way.
But at the same time there could also be that idea
that the character forgot parts of themselves.
And their identity that have been left dormant for whatever reason.
And then it also points to the fallibility of human memory or recall.
And the way it's easy for us to forget.
Or when we play things back in our memory.
We start to equate people.
Maybe who represent similar things.
Maybe as the same person.
How many times have I told you?
Why are you talking so much?
Come on, say it.
If you don't say anything, it's over.
If you don't leave me alone, why should I go?
I've forgotten you.
You've left me alone for two weeks.
And I'm talking to this empty man.
It's really interesting seeing a director work with the
same sort of formatting and devices across multiple films.
There are a lot of directors that try to explore
a lot of different kinds of storytelling devices.
And so it's really interesting to see a director who keeps coming back...
I feel like one of the best recent examples I have of this is the Japanese
director Shinte Yamaguchi, who deals with time loops in a different way than Shiran
does, but he deals with this in two films, Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes from 2020,
which was a lot of work.
It was all shot on an iPhone, as well as the movie River from 2023.
And I just really enjoy the fact that creatives can
find a way to do this without feeling overly repetitive.
It's interesting, too, looking at this scene unfold with Saura,
because there's clearly something sinister here going on.
She and her husband have a strained marriage.
She has been in this accident that perhaps doesn't seem so much like an accident.
And yet there is this whimsy with her.
She's never worrying about the way she smells under all of her bandages and this
barrier that she creates to figure out how close she can get to people.
And then there's also this idea that she can communicate with inanimate objects
that I really love, like when she asks the door if it can open for her.
And I kind of like when something has so many different elements playing at once.
There's humor.
There's something suspenseful and sinister.
And then there's also just something anxiety-inducing about these kinds of
interactions that we're seeing here with all of
these people being frustrated with each other.
It really gets my social anxiety going when I watch things like this.
Ah, my What a filling cover You're.
painful right.
I love you Right Really That's All All You.
Now that we get to the next chapter, I feel like we come into one of the main
settings of Black Rabbit, White Rabbit, which is this production that's going on.
And this is where it starts to get very meta, too, as the film is about a director
whose name is Sharam directing a film outside of his
country while Sharam is doing the exact same thing.
And I'm just a really big fan of just a silly little guy like this.
You know, his films tend to be a little bit on the longer side.
And I know sometimes people have difficulty with
films feeling too long or really taking their time.
I think especially with a lot of studio films here
in America, we're used to so much editing as well.
So I think that sometimes almost helps with the
length of films because it's constantly moving.
Sometimes the pacing is a little bit better.
So it's really interesting to see how his films just make
you sit with things and continuously relive them as well.
Now, Abbas was one of his teachers and really taught mockery a lot.
And clearly, the two were close.
In Abbas's last film, 24 Frames, there's one frame that contains a tree.
And on the tree, he wrote mockery's name, which
he basically took as him passing the Baton.
He was putting something on his shoulders, as he said, passing it to him.
And so he, from that point, tried to pay particular
attention to Abbas whenever he makes a film.
When talking about his mentor, Abbas Kiarostami, he similarly follows in
his footsteps by starting to make films outside of the country.
Kiarostami had a desire to make films about women and romantic relationships
under normal circumstances, which was something that
could never be done if he stayed in the country.
And in turn, we see Sharam working with that here, especially in Sara's case.
We really see that come into play when the armorer enters, which is here,
Babak Karini.
Babak has been in several of his films, including Fish and Cat, Careless Crime,
and one of the more well-known Iranian films, Separation.
And Babak plays the armorer, so he is here on set specifically to help with a shot
where they're going to be shooting a live gun.
And continues to talk about the story about his mentor who taught him,
but died in this tragic way.
You can really feel Makri put in his relationship with Abbas here.
Now, when talking about the film, Sharam mentions
that Black Rabbit, White Rabbit is rabbit holes.
It's stories within stories, constantly
diverging and going down these different paths.
He also says it's about the mystery of performance, illusion, as well as truth.
He says the idea at the heart of the script has to do with the world and my profession.
The world of filmmaking, of cinema.
That sort of world, within a world, within a world, within a world.
And there's so many good stories to tell about that.
But he also says at the same time he loves complex
cinematic structures, like a non-linear storyline.
And he thinks that meta-films can be great metaphors.
It can be a good way of working.
So really, it was these two ideas coming together at the heart of the film.
It's about a filmmaker making a film.
It's about a filmmaker making a film out of
his country, which is exactly what he's doing.
And his mentor, Abbas, also played with really similar ideas.
When talking about filming in Tajikistan, Sharam mentions that it's still a country
in its infancy when it comes to the film scene.
And hadn't even really thought about things like working with extras.
He said that...
During the filmmaking, he has put a lot of energy towards making sure the extras knew
their places, moved at the right time, in the right
direction, didn't look at the camera, and so on.
And he said it was his biggest nightmare, as well
as one of the most crucial parts of the film.
And when you hear that, and think about the way that
he structures these films, as these big, complex...
This is a complex piece of architecture,
where everything has to be timed so precisely.
On top of the fact that there are just so many extras in this film, you really begin
to appreciate how much time and energy went into this task alone.
Sharma said that explaining his way of filmmaking, even
to those who are familiar with his work, isn't easy.
And to those who are not familiar with his filmmaking methods, it's a huge challenge.
To be quite frank, even doing this commentary and trying to pull elements
from the screen to discuss are really hard, because there is so much to make sense of.
I want to talk a little bit about the puzzle box structure of his films.
So, Black Rabbit, White Rabbit...
Black Rabbit is a very intricate narrative structure.
And Macri approaches this like creating a puzzle.
He says that all of his features have really complex structures.
So he's learned to first work through the architecture, the
complex structure of the film, and then through the narrative.
And work within the architecture to create the narrative.
He also says that he begins by composing the puzzles, and
thinking which stories can work together to create this puzzle.
And only at that point does he start to work through the narrative details.
The fourth story came to his mind was the story of someone who works on a film set
and thinks that they might have a very bad day.
Which, in a sense, is a portion of what this film is about, for sure.
But thinking about that simple idea, and creating something so complex as what
we're seeing right now, is just mind-boggling to me.
I feel like I have absolutely no idea how this man works.
It seems so much more complicated than I could even dream of.
Now, one thing I found really interesting was the
reason that he wanted to work in another country.
And, you know, alluded to this several times,
but there's a lot of political upheaval in Iran.
And there's also a lot of censorship that's related
to that, and the government that's in place there.
Makri wanted to work in another country was specifically around the limitations of.
what can be shown when it comes to the experience of women.
In one interview, he talks about how he became bored
making films that show women not in normal circumstances.
Or making films where there's a specific depiction of women
that isn't really natural to how women in real life are.
And so he really wanted to show women being normal.
Or in normal circumstances that they might deal with in their country.
Yes, I want to watch it.
Do you know that Shahroum is filming one film here?
What?
I'm telling you, he's from Iran, he's filming one film here, and then he's leaving.
But you can make a film about me only for this film.
Wait, wait, where are you going?
Can't you see that the actors are rehearsing here?
Come around, please.
And don't let anyone into this part.
Gross.
Of course.
Who are you?
Me.
I see that your team and mine are good.
We'll see about that.
Which, amongst the many issues Iran has as a country
in current events, a lot of them revolve around gender.
The fact that girls are able to marry as young as 13 years old, and can even be
married legally younger if they have judicial or parental consent.
According to one recent statistic, over 16,000 girls between the age of 10 or
14 have married, according to government figures.
Under Iranian law, women and girls don't have equal rights as men.
That comes into marriage, divorce, custody, participation in public or
political life, the workforce, in art.
And women and girls' testimonies at court have no legal value for certain crimes.
And women and girls are even entitled to less
compensation for violation of their rights.
And then there are things like the law.
The law is designed to, quote, support the family by promoting the
culture of chastity and hijab, which was enforced in 2024.
The law consolidates measures in place to enforce compulsory hijab and imposes
additional penalties, such as fines or lengthy prison sentences.
And those who potentially go against these laws may have even
more restrictions on employment, educational opportunities.
Less than 14 percent of women participate in the labor forces in Iran and can't work
in any fields that are, quote, dangerous, arduous, or harmful.
Husbands can prevent their spouses from pursuing occupations.
And then there are various exemptions for husbands and other male family members who
kill or assault female relatives, which includes what we know as honor killings.
There are only even 14 women currently serving on their parliament out of 290 seats.
Under Iranian laws, all sexual intercourse outside of marriage is illegal,
whether consensual or not, which means if a woman is assaulted, she has to prove the
offense in court by getting confession from the
perpetrator or a testimony from four male witnesses.
That's why the woman's excuse has never been given.
The ruling party is壁 of ABU-SAHD, and the middle
And.
this is a normal situation.
Now, just a quick question.
Can you tell me more about your country's gender?
This is my mother.
So you don't have a religion, right?
No.
No, there's a woman's body.
Your family is not a family.
In the U .S., my mother is a family.
So my mother is not a family.
And I am the wife of my mother, but my husband is a father.
And I have a father.
Women have risen to the challenges that they face in society and try to work
within different restrictions, much like filmmakers in Iran work within
restrictions and Sharam works in restrictions
with the structures he creates in his films.
Women have found various ways to cope.
Some find ways to adopt management skills within the home.
Really figuring out how to track expenditures,
prioritize needs and make extra money for their families.
There are also women who, because there are so many limited job opportunities,
take that as a chance to seek out more education and learn skills.
Taking workshops, doing vocational training, higher education.
Which, in the event that things change or there's more
job openings, they'll be much more likely to contribute.
There's a lot of mutual aid that goes on in the country as well.
Family, friends and neighbors sharing resources.
Getting together, having a sense of camaraderie.
Which, living in a country where we're similarly dealing with different social
issues more and more, I think that sense of community is so important.
Women also prioritize health and well-being.
They have to take care of themselves and their bodies because they know that their
health is crucial to helping their families.
So taking care of themselves ultimately means taking care of their loved ones.
They try to empower themselves, finding creative ways to make money.
They play huge roles in a lot of the protests.
There's a lot of protest going on in the country.
And despite facing so many types of fines, imprisonment, or violence against them,
many women have taken drastic measures.
Removing their headscarves in public and trying to reclaim
agency over their bodies and their right to choose.
Access to VPNs, social media, and finding ways to support women.
To circumvent the different censorship and content they're allowed to view online has
also been a huge win for women and other young people in the country.
Talking about their lives, sharing their businesses, sharing their stories about
harassment and violence, and giving other people
a sense of what's really going on in the country.
We've prepared a casting for you.
Lakri describes Iran as a land of rich literature, full of myth and legends.
A place that enjoys a four-season climate and has a huge filmmaking history.
So there is a lot of beautiful natural and social elements to the country,
despite the fact that there is this authoritarian government looming over them.
Now the Iranian film scene really gained traction with the Iranian new wave,
which started in the 1960s and has continued getting more and more popularity
through the 90s and 2000s with films like A Separation.
They're constantly pushing boundaries, questioning what is foundational and
essential about cinema, expanding aesthetics, and
showing themselves as a really unique storytelling force.
One, two, three.
Machia.
In contemporary Iranian film events, in 2025 there were calls across the film
industry, to end state censorship, with 13 different trade unions joining
directors and screenwriters and demanding the abolition of film production permits
and pre-production control imposed by government bodies.
These unions represented cinematographers, actors, production designers, sound
recordists, editors, photographers, makeup artists.
And they backed a statement by the Iranian film director, the Director's Association,
condemning the state censorship.
For.
those that aren't as fluent in Iranian films, some more contemporary films are
things like The Salesman, Women Without Men, It Was Just an Accident from this
past year, Seed of the Sacred Fig from 2024.
And a personal favorite of mine, Holy Spider from 2022, by director Ali
Abbasi, which focuses on the rise and fall of the real Iranian serial killer,
Saeed Hanay, who murdered 16 sex workers in their holy city of Mashhad.
If you have not seen, I highly recommend especially talking about some of the
different issues, in regards to turmoil women face.
Despite the fact that this man was a brutal serial killer, he also found a huge
following across the country, because he was attacking
these women that were thought of as unseemly.
And the film contains a lot of elements that are regarded as taboo by the Iranian
censors, things like prostitution, drug abuse and depictions of sex.
The film had to be shot entirely in Amman, Jordan.
But Abbasi really wanted to tackle the topic of misogynistic roots in his homeland.
And it's a really beautiful film that delves into some of these
political issues in a really important and interesting way.
The.
richness of the culture of Iran is something
that even predates the Islamic theocracy.
The ancient Greece described the area as the cosmopolitanism of the Persians.
Now, Iranian film history is quite lengthy, spanning about 110 years.
And it's a long story.
During the 1940s, one of the ways that the film scene stayed afloat was by dubbing
many of the films that came to the country.
So Hollywood productions were dominating the screens.
But at the time, a huge portion of the Iranian population
was illiterate and weren't able to read subtitles.
So dubbing became essential for people to experience films from other countries.
And ultimately, a lot of dubbing studios were established in the country,
starting in the 1940s.
The Iranian film industry really grew rapidly in the 50s and 60s.
Many studios were established, theaters built.
By 1965, there were 72 movie theaters in Tehran alone.
One of the big successes in the country was a film known as Ganja Quran,
which grossed over the equivalent of 1 million U.S.
dollars.
And the theme of the film concerned the worthless and desperate life of the upper
middle class, in contrast with the poor and happy
working class, which is, quote, rich and morals.
So a very interesting perspective for them to have.
The boom that occurred in the film scene in the
60s and 70s was also not just with narrative films.
There were several larger documentaries that became popular.
And considering how much of fiction and reality plays a role in many of the films
of Iranian cinema, it makes a lot of sense.
The themes that were very popular at the time were dance, music, and really
simplistic dramas, as well as Persianized versions of Western films.
And we also see some of the roots of Sharam's work, and how it relates to the
cinematic voice of the Iranian film industry.
And we also see some of the roots of Sharam's work, and how it relates to the
cinematic voice of the Iranian film industry.
One very notable film from the 60s was The Night of the Hunchback, which is a very
magical, realist film based on one thousand and one nights.
And by the 70s, you see a real boom.
The 70s was a special decade for Iranian cinema, and the 70s saw the height of the
Shah's confidence in his social and political successes.
And because the government felt so powerful at the time, the regime even
allowed the making of films with some critical social themes.
Schools that were started in the 60s started having their first graduates,
so you have a really robust generation of new filmmakers.
And a lot of important filmmakers emerged from the pre-revolutionary era there.
And these young filmmakers showed a real interest in the film industry.
They showed interest in avant-garde forms of cinema, which makes sense for the time,
too, being inspired by the different New Wave movements in other countries that
came before, including Parvus Kimiyavi, best known for his film Mongols from 1973,
which allegorized the cultural imperialism of TV by
comparing that situation to the invasion of the Mongols.
And then there was Biram Bazai, a groundbreaking Iranian New Wave
director, known for his 1972 film Downpour.
In the 70s is also when Shahram's mentor,
Abbas Karastami, really establishes himself.
His film The Report, which came out in 1978, was one of the last films that
screened before the revolution started in 1978.
And that's when the film was first released, in 1979.
I particularly love this scene because not only does this become a very
self-referential film where it gets meta, He
also starts making fun of himself a little bit.
As these people are talking, it's like, why is this too long?
This like circle of light doesn't make any sense.
You can definitely see how these are things people might be asking behind the
scenes that are familiar with his work or kind of his vision, but also with critics
and audiences who maybe have a hard time getting under those different layers.
Here they talk about just general issues that women have with their husbands,
but they don't really talk to too much.
It's just kind of the women here give each other a look, and they know what it means,
even though maybe some of the men in the room are a little
more clueless when it comes to the plight of women in Iran.
And going back to 60s and 70s history in Iran, this is also a little bit of a story.
So where you start to see the cinema landscape
exploring politics through symbolic language.
But also, unfortunately, like happens with many repressive governments, there are
filmmakers from Iran during this time that were forced to leave the country because
of the political and cultural circumstances.
And those who stayed really tried to take the opportunity
to use that censorship to create something new.
And working in those rough restrictions.
And in the 90s is when Iranian cinema really enjoys its global success.
Many of these films becoming festival darlings all over the world.
And that also proves to be a really big image
enhancer that was needed for the Islamic Republic.
Because of the political and social issues going on in the country, the fact that
they were becoming so highly regarded for their artistic
endeavors was a really big boom for the country.
And there was a period in the country's history where it was unclear if cinema
would have a place in the Islamic regime,
considering it was considered a Western toxin.
clueless when it comes to this.
But as people in power happened to be fans of certain Iranian films, they gave
permission for cinema to have a place in the Islamic Republic.
They say that Iranian filmmakers use their cameras as weapons.
That their art is a form of resistance.
The fact is that one of the films on the screen was killed in the same way.
It's not a myth.
It was probably Antonia's idea.
Antonia was the one who killed Antonia.
I don't know about that.
I think I know what you're talking about.
Come on, come on, come on.
Where?
Come on, over there.
Oh, sure.
Don't be afraid.
One of the things you should remember is that...
He who doesn't know, he's dead.
What?
Come on, come on, come on.
Don't worry, we'll be back.
Come to another very iconic scene, in which we see a bunch of the different
props that are being used on set have a conversation with each other.
It brings to mind the rock scene in Everything, Everywhere, All at Once quite
a bit, but I like that we have so many of these
different objects having discourse around each other.
And while it's not totally explored in this film, it brings about an idea that I
find really interesting about places or objects holding...
holding trauma of the different events that occurred.
So this revolver having, in a sense, a memory of something that happened to it
years and years ago, seeking vengeance just like a human would.
Since the 1979 Islamic Resolution, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic
Guidance have exercised control over filmmaking.
From script development and casting...
posters and promotional materials... and even which
actors' images can appear in advertising or not.
Now, the Republic has set a lot of restrictions on what kind of content is forbidden.
And these are things like showing women's hair to unmarried men and women touching
it affectionately... anything risqué... and even though the government's
government has put many restrictions on the film industry and has made it harder
and harder for filmmakers to explore the kind of content they want to because of
the way Iranian cinema has been regarded over the years,
they continue to support the film industry regardless.
And while censorship is certainly an issue, some also believed that these
obstacles helped the creativity of the filmmakers.
We talk about Iranian current events.
And there are a lot of people who believe that there is hope for the things
happening in the country right now because of
how impactful a lot of the protests have seen.
But also the scale of violence deployed by the Iranian security forces against
protesters have been staggering, as they have been for years.
And so ruling with an iron fist and being unyielding towards protesters,
is a bit of ...is a huge part of what the
government has done for years and years here.
So even with the hope that things might change, you can also see why people might
be skeptical that this is just an moment where things are once again repeating.
And unfortunately, the regional powers that
be are focused on preserving the status quo.
And they are trying to deter the United States from
intervening and assisting in regime change operations.
Can't imagine why.
And concerns about the regional turmoil are really understandable.
The Middle East has been plagued by years of war in various countries.
Most of the regional powers and countries are wary of mass protests.
So what's happening in Iran is not dissimilar
what's happened to other countries in the region.
Many of them do the same thing.
They criminalize the dissents.
They frame protests as a foreign conspiracy.
And they do what they can to preserve the power that
they have and prevent meaningful change from happening.
But the country currently, as of recording this, is in dire straits.
There's crippling inflation, military defeats, the succession crisis,
the threat of American intervention.
And unfortunately, that means cracking down on protesters.
In these most recent protests, there's an estimated
2,000 people who have already been killed.
But some have also stated that Iran is undergoing the most dramatic upheaval
since the 1979 revolution, which is, well, that's just the beginning of its history.
And so, in many ways, we can see how the idea of history repeating itself might
even play a very subtle role in the films he's creating.
And now, what model have you brought?
The Rodeo, the one who has been shot and has not been shot.
Why the Rodeo?
Because, my dear, in life, I've seen what I was seeing.
But.
unfortunately, the government's history of cracking down
and becoming more and more restrictive follows it to today.
In 2009, the prominent director Jafar Panahi
was arrested for attending demonstrations.
In 2012, the government shut down the House of Cinema, which was basically the
equivalent of the Academy of Motion Pictures of Arts and Science in the country.
And later, his film, This Is Not a Film, dealt with many of the restrictive issues
he dealt with, as the film was about a director under
house arrest awaiting the appeal of his prison sentence.
The film was made because the regime had forbidden him from making films for 20
years, and his way around that was to appear in the film itself.
He wasn't writing or directing.
So, appearing in front of the camera, in his mind, would be totally fine.
And by trying to sell it as some sort of filmmaker, as actor in a documentary,
like fiction, he really did what he could to try to get
around some of the laws forbaying him to pursue his passions.
This Is Not a Film was smuggled out of Iran to the Cannes Film Festival.
And was able to get distribution all over the world.
And here we really see a common theme in Iranian films that are a staple of
Shahram's work as well, which is the blending of fiction and documentary.
Blurring those lines.
Stories within stories.
Sarah's story, initially, we think it is just us following this woman, and then we
realise that it is part of a production, much like a lot of other elements.
Most of the two musical characters get together on set.
Sarah's later many similar よ academy I have no idea what these people are doing
and the way the Iranian film industry has been affected by it.
He also said that U.S.
sanctions on Iran have made it really difficult to transfer money and assets
between the Iranian banks and other countries, which means it's really
difficult for joint ventures and production to happen.
...
Amal Aran has a really unique voice in the realm of cinematic history.
It's not the only country that has dealt with repressive governments and artistic
freedoms and censorship that has found interesting ways to be creative.
For instance, in the United States, we had the Hays Code, which had a very
strict outline about what could be shown on screen.
And specifically, it had to follow certain moral guidelines.
Not showing nudity, or profanity, or sex.
Making sure that the good guy always wins in the end.
Not having villains win.
And some of those moralistic conversations are ones that
seem to be coming back around, even in the United States now.
So again, we see how these views come and go and continue across time and space.
But then you also have the Czech New Wave movement in the 1960s, which was another
really bold experimental period of filmmaking.
And a lot of the films that were being made at
the time focused on social and political issues.
Going on in communist Czech.
And many directors, again, had to leave the
country because of strict laws and persecution.
The popular filmmaker Vera Kitiulova is a great
example of a woman directing during that time.
As well as someone whose film, Daisies, was banned by the government.
And she wasn't allowed to...
make films for several years in the country because of it.
And then in the 1970s, you have Spain's post-Franco film scene.
Once the Franco dictatorship ended and the rigid censorship laws were no longer in
place, simply showing graphic violence or
sex on screen was a really big political act.
In fact, just recently, there was a great documentary that came out about this
period called Exorcismo, which is narrated by Iggy Pop and directed by Alberto
Cedano, which we actually featured in Brooklyn Horror Fest in 2024.
And the documentary talks about these classified S films, as they called them.
Sebrin actually has a box set that includes the documentary with some of these films.
So another great example of films coming out of a repressive government.
And similarly, in Italy, the years of lead, as they were referred to,
which was a period of social and political turmoil in the country that lasted for
about 20 years, starting in the 60s, which was
marked by huge political acts of terrorism.
And there was a lot of films that were dedicated to...
showing the violence, crime, corruption and political strains that were going on.
Censorship always creeps its head into the film scene.
And either when freed from such restrictions or during them, filmmakers
and artists are always finding new ways to challenge.
And it really is a great example of how art is always political.
And especially in Iran, you can feel how fueled by politics
and social issues everything is, even if it isn't explicit.
Mina.
Something about his films too, because it has all of these different
stories that seemingly aren't connected at first,
they almost feel like a collection of short stories.
Fish and Cat is very similar, as we followed
these different characters wading around.
But they're also telling stories with voiceovers.
So here it's very similar, where we get all of these different stories.
We see them happening through different points of view.
Three of Sharam's short films are also included.
The earliest being The Dragonfly Storm.
Which, if you end up watching that one, or have already,
there's a lot more cuts in that one than is typical work.
So you really don't see that style of the one-shot come into play.
The tone of a lot of Macri's work also reminds me of two short story authors.
Eckhart Carrot, who's a writer from Israel, who wrote books like Suddenly a
Knock at the Door, The Bus Driver That Wanted to Be God, and Seven Good Years.
As well as George Saunders, an American writer, who has
short story collections like Pastoralia or Tenth of December.
And there's something about the whimsical nature of these films.
And the way Sharam is portrayed.
And how Sharam's films begin to feel like short stories, particularly this one.
With how we're taken down these long rabbit
holes into a story that is within another story.
Mr. Babak.
Babak?
Yes?
Are you okay?
What happened?
You should be fine.
Where are the others?
I don't know.
They went to the Maidana.
And it's interesting, too, in this film, and ones like Fish and Cat, where not only
do we see the same event happen multiple times,
we also see it from different perspectives.
Or an event that happened in the foreground later
is happening in the background, or vice versa.
It really gives you this very full picture of the entire world that he's built.
In an article entitled The Cinematic Time Loops of Sharam Makhri, the writer makes a
point that Makhri's temporal loops condense differing perspectives into a
single shot as if to establish a shared memory.
A collective consciousness, if you will.
Showing us that there's always more, than just our
singular understanding of the events that occur.
The main storylines of this film being the armorer
who suspects a prop gun might be out for revenge.
An actor who seeks a part in a film who may or may not exist.
A woman haunted by the idea that her car crash wasn't an accident.
And we have all of these very strange stories coming together and blending into one.
He says that in Black Rabbit, White Rabbit, we are again reenacting the past
in present, but in a way to make present and past indistinguishable from each other.
But, in a way, it's a reenactment of the past
that is probably missing from the present.
But, in a way, it's a reenactment of the past.
Because our images are less, less, less visualized.
Or much, much more, less visualized than before.
Exactly.
I was thinking, did you have a resistance to it?
Because of the fact that in Black Rabbit, the action takes place in a manner of
Bijan, tell the girls to go back to their places.
Yes, we are ready.
Girls, go back to your places quickly.
Manzar, what happened?
Manzar!
Now, Shahram's mentor, the boss, Kiarostami,
was someone who also had a lot of metafilms.
And, as Shahram himself says, his films are often
about acting or the process of making films.
And so he takes that, and he said, with Black Rabbit, White Rabbit,
he wanted to look through the lens of making a film about making a film,
or being a filmmaker making a film about a filmmaker making a film.
And hoping that he's able to pursue that direction in the right way and really pay
homage and an ode to the man that he is such a huge fan of.
And one of the realities that Shahram really gets
right is just the truly chaotic nature of the film set.
How many elements are going on at once.
The armorer is trying so hard to do his job, and even the people that seem to be
helming the production either aren't around.
They constantly mention Shahram being somewhere else, not being on set yet,
going off, making last minute changes.
And then you have people like this producer who tend to
shirk responsibility, or pass the Baton to someone else.
So I've talked about MC Escher a little bit so far, but I want to explore him and
his works a little bit more in detail because I think that it ties so much to
Sharam Makhri's work and you can see how these creatives who ended up working in
different fields with different mediums ended up having so much in common.
So Escher was born in 1898.
His full name, Maritzis Cornelius Escher.
And if you don't know the name, like just from the top of your head.
If you just do a quick Google search, you'll immediately know his works.
For some reason, I always equate them with grade school,
seeing them in a lot of picture books when I was younger.
Escher made 448 lithographs, woodcuts and wood
engravings, and more than 2000 drawings and sketches.
And he plays with architecture, perspective and impossible spaces.
He started out going to architecture school and
switching gears because he wanted to pursue art so much.
And similarly, Sharam talks about his films architecture really frequently.
Escher was renowned for his use of intricate patterns, optical illusions,
and they often involved mathematic and scientific concepts.
And his most famous works are what they call his impossible
drawings, such as the ascending and descending, and relativity.
Hey, what's your name?
Mr. Waidov.
I think my Feinstein is somewhere here, but it's there right now.
I checked this week.
The construction company is behind the scenes.
I'm not a comedian.
I talked to Antonio.
I'm sorry.
Do you know what happened in America to Alec Baldwin?
Yes, you're right.
He was shot in the head.
Okay.
You have to apologize to everyone.
Or I'll be left with a body.
Don't worry.
Nassim won't take your film.
I'm tired of your acting.
Go and take a rest.
You're tired.
The ways in which Macri's work and M.C.
Escher's work are similar are really fascinating.
Escher's work has dealt with themes around challenging people's perception of space
and reality, creating impossible constructions,
and weaving together various perspectives.
His works also explore the ideas of a self-referential paradox, the limits of
human perception and the subjective nature of reality, combining mathematics,
physics, and art to create illusions of movement and transformation, contemplating
things like the cycle of life, and things just seemingly morphing into
each other, this seamless fluidity throughout his work.
And I think similarly you can say all of that is here in Black Rabbit, White
Rabbit, but most of Schramm's work as well.
Escher creates impossible structures that shift perspectives
and embrace the subject nature of our experience as humans.
He was very influenced by science and mathematics, but his artwork ended up
inspiring different fields as well, including the field of topology.
And like a lot of artists similar in his time,
Escher struggled to gain recognition during his life.
And his work didn't really become highly regarded and celebrated until years later.
And that's by Arten Thunisius and mathematicians alike.
Some of his more popular works are ones called Relativity, which showcases a
complex network of stairs and architectural elements that defy gravity
and are designed to challenge the viewer's perception of space.
And it's a really great example of this, these impossible constructions that he
makes, weaving together various perspectives to create these mind-boggling effects.
Another similarity between him and Schramm as Schramm constantly weaves various
perspectives and we see the same scenes from
various people's points of view as the film goes on.
Another one of his famous works was Drawing Hands, which depicts a pair of
hands that appear to be drawing one another.
And that work explores the idea of infinite recursion, where each hand is
simultaneously the drawer and the drawn, creating a self-referential paradox that
speaks to the nature of creation and artistic expression.
And... because Schramm's films often feel like these big time loops where we see one
event happen, falling into the next event, but then somehow that event happens before
the one before it, it has a similar kind of optical illusion effect.
Another of his famous works, Ascending and Descending, which features a group of
figures walking up and down staircases that seem to lead nowhere.
And it draws attention to the limits of human
perception and the subjective nature of reality.
Again, Schramm constantly challenging our perception of reality.
It's a more reserved form of observation than anyone else.
And then, as we're looking at the novel, we have to see the face of the book.
And it really shows that this is a kind of fictional fantasy.
But there's a very particular story about this.
Which is a little bit about the leader of Saurabh.
See?
In these moments where the film gets really
meta and we end up seeing behind the scenes.
You really begin to appreciate how magical making a film is, how difficult making a
film is, even if you're not someone as meticulous as Shiram.
There are so many people, so many moving elements.
So many conflicting priorities.
Do you know how difficult it was for my mother to come to this set?
She's shooting in the third studio.
I'm not sure if it was the third studio, but the
last three nights I clearly saw her sleeping.
You know, I just adore her.
Even my friends joke about it sometimes.
If she's in the third studio, I'll definitely go there and look at her.
Do you know how difficult it was for my mother to come to this set?
Wait, is that Akai Bubak?
Yes.
Let's go, I want to see your costume.
Shiram says that when he was talking about Black Rabbit, White Rabbit, he was very
careful not to provide any spoilers, so it
made it a little bit difficult to talk about.
And it makes sense, once you've seen the film, it's understandable why it's hard to
talk about it without revealing some of the mystery elements that are revealed.
And he said that with this film, again, they continued
to explore what is understood by remaking it.
In the context of the story, the filmmaker
Shiram is remaking a popular Iranian series.
Akai Bubak!
And then we see multiple scenes being replayed and redone before us.
And... The way their films are composed of these single-shot one-takes, it gives it a
circular format in the way that actors move about the set.
Things kind of spiral and continue to kind of come back to each other.
It also challenges our perception of time and space in this movie.
It's hard to say what the linear timeline is in
terms of the events that are occurring before us.
Which is part of the point.
And in terms of history, it's an interesting element because we often
discuss or talk about history repeating itself.
In the story here, the armorer is trying to stop a gun from seeking revenge.
Years later.
And trying to prevent him or someone else from getting hurt on set.
Much like the way his predecessor died in front
of him when he was much younger in his career.
When you look at the country of Iran itself as a country that for years has
been trying to fight against repressive governments.
And these protests being continuously shot down.
And people beaten back into submission.
It is understandable why the idea of history
repeating itself can feel scary at times.
Did you get a sunstroke?
And you don't know how to get out of there?
You're a movie star to me.
Hey, dad.
Do you have a job for me?
Yes, I have a problem.
I wanted to talk to you.
Go ahead.
I brought a series of accessories.
Now I don't know who to talk to.
I have another location there.
I have to take a series of things.
And then there's the issue of this movie.
I don't know what it is.
I don't know what to do with it.
How did you find out about it?
Sharom.
Didn't Sharom come to ask you about it?
He came with an idea.
He was just checking the clothes of the actor.
I see.
Wait a minute.
Please.
Can I talk to you for a second?
Please take a look at this too.
Wait a minute.
A car.
He wants to give a gift to Parviz.
If you don't want a fire, don't leave Kebri and Tocho alone.
If you want a car, take a car.
But I don't have money.
I live in the field.
You don't have money.
Everything is fine.
I like it.
I hope I get to do it.
I get it.
I get what you mean.
But in general, you did well.
Is this the same one?
No.
Not this one.
The direct one.
How did you get it?
It's the same one.
Where is it?
And one of the things that Shiram mentions in an interview is the enduring beauty of
Iranian cinema, its power to express social and political truths through
ambiguity and poetry, he says I think the unique aesthetics and refinements of
Iranian cinema have very much to do with our culture, a culture that is so complex
in the sense that nothing is just at face value,
nothing is as simple as what it appears to be.
There's always something deeper, there's always details, symbols,
images that pervade every aspect of their culture.
And so he says that he thinks when it comes to
cinema, it makes it refined and multi-layered.
And considering how his films seem like they might have a simple story,
like for example this one about someone potentially have a really bad day on a
film set, there's clearly so much more than that and so many more details that
are woven throughout the film and lots of symbolism, lots of references.
And mysteries that feel unexplained and strange like this giant
cup the armorer is following as he is walking through sets.
And I'd just like to pause here quick, because I really love the way you see some
of the different scenes converging and also
getting a little bit more of that fourth world.
We are all broken.
You were working in Hayat.
A girl told me to bring the bed here.
She had a question.
I didn't give you the cigarette that was there.
Where did you take it from?
Parveen!
Bring your bag.
At least let me know what's going on.
Is the reaction right?
Yes, it is.
I'll be back.
Don't you trust your game?
It's your habit of not working.
Why don't you give me a movie script?
Why are we so busy now?
During the film, we see the armorer trying his best to
potentially prevent something really terrible from happening.
The fact that they even cite the tragic, accidental shooting on the set with Aleph
Baldwin really puts into perspective just how
important his job is and how seriously he takes it.
But unfortunately for him, it feels almost impossible for him to do the work he's
supposed to do because of very simple and silly things like not having an ID to get
on set that he needs and not being able to find the right person who has the ID.
You can see how quickly the chain of command can
fall apart when there's a lack of communication.
And on big productions like this, it has to happen all the time.
And while it might not be intentional, that also makes me think of films that are
about the sometimes ineffective and perplexing ways that the government can work.
Things like In the Loop.
Or... Shin Godzilla.
A lot of those are about, you know, the government being very fallible and
oftentimes ridiculous in what they're doing.
And so it's easy to wonder if, while not a glaring theme on the surface,
if that's perhaps another one of these hidden elements
underneath that Shram is trying to express in this film.
It also makes you appreciate... how... where you begin a story... can really tell
you so much about what's going on... or how little information..
you might not have.
In his short films... like the... Dragonfly Storm...
Shram's music.
You continuously see... events... moving... around.
You continuously see events happen, and then as the film progresses,
it shows you more and more of what happened before then.
So going into that non-linear storytelling that he's such a big fan of.
One particular article I found mentions that the way he does multiple perspectives
is the long-awaited This is the third counterpart to the, quote, Rashomon
effect, which emphasizes the unknowability of reality or various points of view by
showing different characters and how they perceive the same event in different ways.
An example here being when the girl is having her costume fixed and we see it
from the perspective inside of the costume where it
looks like she has entered into this other world.
And then we see it from the perspective of someone that's just an onlooker who would
just see two people underneath this dark cloak together in front of everyone.
And so you don't get to see this conversation or magical element in the same way.
And the fact that our young actress has a background as a magician and is the one
that makes the rabbits appear and makes herself disappear even at one point,
makes her feel essential to the magical
elements and Escher-esque elements of the film.
It is lovely when you finally get to see it.
You see the rabbits make their various appearances throughout the film.
Both as real life cute, adorable rabbits and these
slightly unsettling humans in rabbit head costumes.
Well, everyone who walks the path, everyone who walks the
path, walk slowly so that your voice doesn't get too loud.
Now the scene that I have shown you in the monitor, we are going to practice it.
For everyone, either I am the one who speaks a little
bit and someone else is shooting from the other side.
May it be you, or I am the one who is shooting.
Ladies, ladies, you are six people.
You are seven people.
Is that enough?
Public discontent with the regime will continue to manifest and intensify because
the Iranian government continues to not solve
many of the underlying issues in the country.
Things that would be necessary to actually restructure.
To act as a resistance organization.
...their political economy and create relief for many Iranian people.
Instead, the government tries to use propaganda and indoctrination campaigns to
re-ideologize the Iranian people and try to renew their commitment to the regime's
principles as opposed to making any actual change.
They argue things like the United States is waging economic and psychological war
against Iran and responsible for the poor domestic...
And while there is of course the hope that things will get better and real important
change will be made that will help many of those living in Iran, there is also the
possibility that the regime could get even harsher intensifying the repression.
In the scene towards the end here, we also see an Esher painting in the
background as the armorist is running around.
...the world is going to be destroyed.
So Iranian filmmakers continue to make films both in their country and others
feel the need to escape ideological control and some of
them have even faced prison sentences upon returning home.
This year, four Iranian films were competing for the Academy Award for Best
International Feature and the only one that was actually represented by the
Islamic Republic was Cause of Death Unknown by Ali.
Although two films, one from Iranian director Jafar Panahi, It Was Just an
Accident, as well as the film The Voice of Hin Rajab, were nominated in the category.
As of yet, those winners have not been decided.
Considering the turmoil in the Middle East, having
those voices represented feels incredibly important.
And I love the end of the film here where we begin to
wrap up some of the other stories and come back to Sarah,
who's uncovered the fact that her husband tried
to kill her and is hell-bent on getting revenge.
Using this gun that may or may not have been meant for her.
And considering the many issues that women in Iran have faced and continue to face,
it does feel revolutionary to have this end with her and allowing her to get some
semblance of revenge after being cooped up and
suffering for so long under this very unhappy marriage.
Are you afraid?
Of who?
Don't touch me.
I know that you broke my car.
And the shorts that are included as special features on this release are
really so incredible in the way they showcase his growth as a director.
For The Dragonfly Storm, you see same events from different perspectives.
You're slowly given more and more information.
You have this non-linear storytelling.
Even very silly, sort of whimsical elements
like getting the point of view of the dragonfly.
Then you have Limit the Circle, which comes back to the long takes.
And is set in a film slash performing arts school.
And has a similar dream-like quality to his films of these
loops of time and events kind of falling in on each other.
Han really challenges the ideas about what is play and what is real life.
And Nashim mentions that Limit the Circle
is really the blueprint for his future work.
And then you have Andesie, from 2007, which is also based on an M.C.
Escher painting, which deals with strained
relationships, strained marital relationships.
You have multiple screens going on at once, all with one-shot takes,
dealing with mistaken identities and these cyclical contained universes.
So when you watch them together, with his latest work, you really get a
beautiful portrait of how he's grown as a filmmaker
and how so many of the ideas he's had have evolved.
And how he contributes to the reputation and structure and look of Iranian cinema,
but at something that's entirely new.
And here at the end of the film, we see Sara get revenge on her repression.
And then here we also see our magician slash actress-to-be,
and she also receives freedom in her own right.
Thank you all so much for listening to this commentary track for Black Rabbit,
White Rabbit.
I hope that you enjoyed this exploration of Iranian cinema, Iranian history and
current events, and of course, Sharam Malkari's work.
If you haven't checked out some of the other special features, including the
short films I talked a little bit about, as well as the
writing about Sharam and his work, I really suggest it.
And continue to enjoy and to suggest that people explore other Iranian cinema,
pay attention to politics and current events going on there.
I think Sharam does a really beautiful job at exploring cyclical nature of life and
history, the oftentimes blurred lines between reality and fiction, especially
thinking about the propaganda that is often used so frequently in Iran.
Having a sense of truth and trying to understand how
subjective truth often is, is often very difficult.
And I think he explores that in really interesting ways that don't feel
necessarily heavy, like other directors might tackle the same kind of subject matter.
There's an element of whimsy and holding the
good and the bad and the weird all together.
And I think he really excels at that.
So thank you again for taking the time and enjoy the rest of the release.