A glance at Edinburgh Iranian Festival 30th Jan -8th Feb 2008

This was the first ever Iranian cultural festival in UK, organised by team of energetic volunteers from Edinburgh University Persian Society. This festival had no political agenda was aiming to raise awareness of Iranian culture and help to integrate it with other cultures. Events included music concerts, book Q&A, film screenings, lectures, exhibitions, storytelling, food and comedy shows. I didn’t know what to expect as I didn’t know any of the organisers and have never been in Edinburgh but from the email conversations I had with them ,I could sense that it’s rather organised and it I was right. Everything was extremely well planned, more than I had imagined. it was so inspiring to see that a group of passionate people could create the such a lovely festival which will hopefully continue and set an example for other Iranians in different parts of UK. www.ediranfest.co.uk The festival was supported by numbers of sponsors which made this festival a reality. The gold sponsors are as followed:

Scottish Screen Lottery Funded www.scottishscreen.com
Edinburgh University Persian Society www.freewebs.com/edinburghpersiansociety
Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies www.imes.ed.ac.uk
Filmhouse www.filmhousecinema.com
St John’s Church www.stjohns-edinburgh.org.uk
Balmore House www.balmore-holidays.co.uk

Music:

Traditional concert by Naghmeh Ensemble, Saturday31st Jan 2009, St John’s Church.
They are a very brilliant and active group of musicians and have performed in many great venues.
St John’s Church was a wonderful space with beautiful interior and fantastic acoustics as churches normally have .It truly was a very holy atmosphere and so surprising to see the traditional Iranian music can fit so well in the traditional church. I have to say it was hard for me to imagine how it’s going to work; I’d say a beautiful marriage.

www.naghmeh.org

Exhibitions:

Photographic Exhibition 16h Jan-8th Feb 09

This exhibition contained a variety of collections, black and white photographs of Iran, especially from Tehran 1900-1970and a collection of personal family photos donated by Iranians living in Edinburgh dating back to 1900s and post card collections from 1920s.
The images were exhibited in two venues, St John’s Church and Filmhouse.
St John’s Church again was a surprising venue, somewhere which I wasn’t expecting to see such exhibition. Apart from the panels on the side there were small frame stands fitted on every church bench which created a very surreal combination of Ghajar photos and Christian alter.

Painting exhibition by Maryam Hashemi, St John’s Church, Sunday 1st Feb – 4th Feb 09

This was a retrospective exhibition including works from 2004 and my recent works from Jan 2009, which I managed to finish just before the festival.
It was so lovely to have my exhibition at St John’s Church, with warm and friendly staff and unique venue. I had a great mix of people viewing the exhibition and received interesting comments one being ‘’God approves of creative souls’’, which I found it very sweet.
My experience in Edinburgh was full of colours and being taken care of by a party of lovely hospitable organisers and their friends made the whole festival even more enjoyable , I also had a chance to meet many great artists which I’m very grateful for that.
For once in my life there has been absolutely nothing for me to worry about ,everything went extremely smooth and on time .Everyone had worked so hard and it was lovely to see their family and friends were also involved in helping and giving support in many ways such as cutting and laminating my labels and covering shifts for the exhibition, it was empowering to receive such warmth and support.
I was staying at Balmore House, owned by a lovely couple which had kindly place all the festival guests in their lovely comfortable rooms. I received such a warm welcome and they had such lovely staff that didn’t really want to leave my sweet room. I recommend this place to everyone who is going to Edinbugh , by reading their guest book I could see everyone were very happy there: www.balmore-holidays.co.uk

On the last day of the exhibition I did a drawing workshop, based on my own drawing techniques. it was the first time that I was doing this workshop and wasn’t quite sure what the outcome might be.I had keen participants and the session was received very well by all. I was very pleased to see that I could deliver what I had in mind and hoping to repeat the session in near future.

Film

Edinburgh Iranian festival teamed up with middle eastern spirituality and peace festival and Filmhouse Cinema and organised Middle Eastern Film Festival, 28thFeb-15th March
it was greatly received and many films were sold out .
Some of the films that were screened :

As simple as That, Sayed Reza MirKarimi,2008
Where is My friend’s house,Abbas Kiarostami, 1987
Bashu, the little stranger,Bahram Beizai, 1989
Nargess, Rakhshan Bani Etemad, ,1992
The scent of Joseph’s shirt, Ebrahim Hatamikia , 1995
Two Women,Tahmineh Milani, 1999
Tehran has no pomegranates, Massoud Bakhshi, 2008

So close, So far by Sayed Reza MirKarimi

I had a great chance of watching SO CLOSE, SO FAR (Kheili Dour, Kheili Nazdik) by Sayed Reza MirKarimi at Film House, Edinburgh .It was a surprise as this film was not listed as part of the festival schedule and was suggested by himself and in a form of a miracle on the last minute plan which the brilliant organiser managed to arrange the Guild theatre in Filmhouse for the screening. Mirkarimi himself was present which the best part was and a session of Q&A took place after the screening which carried on for many hours, spreading to the Filmhouse cafe.
I wasn’t familiar with Mr MirKarimi’s work at all as I had lost interest in Iranian Cinema for some years , I assure you that has changed after watching his film and having the honour of meeting him. He is a very respectful person with a beautiful mind and soul .I would like to describe him a man of God with wonderful sense of humour.
For those who are not familiar with his work checkout this link: www.imdb.com/name/nm0591925/

The story plot:
“Masoud Rayegani plays a wealthy Tehran doctor who lives a life of luxury, surrounded by the latest in high-tech personal communication devices. This self-satisfied existence is rocked when he learns that his teenage son has a brain tumor.”
Right from the very first frame, I noticed I’m about to see something very inelegant. The brilliant opening sequence starts at a chaotic and busy TV studio where a family program is being shot, consisting of the chefs special demonstration of making the sabzi polo mahi and the interview with a neurone surgeon,Dr Alamy, the main character of the film.
The studio atmosphere is a great metaphor for the chaotic atmosphere of Tehran where different realities that are existing side by side have created the blend of ghorme sabzi and clone.
There is a peep shot of Jesus on the cross talking to his mobile in the next door studio which will bring smile on my face every time I remember it and literally made me explode with laughter on the moment in the cosy guild cinema which I had totally made myself at home by sitting on the floor at the front row.
According to MirKarimi himself he has used the filming studio to give an introduction to the film’s environment and character s .Also portraying the mankind at present time, stuck in the limbo and the phase of suffering, Jesus is still on the cross even though he is modernised and our spirituality has not developed any further in the past centuries.
The film has a very fluid and natural flow, with an intelligent language. As MirKarimi was pointing out himself, there are many different clues and symbolism hidden away, many references to portrait the future events in the film and preparing the viewer for what is about to come. The references are clever and woven in the story .They can easily be missed or be forgotten when watching for the first time. But even with missing the symbols and signs you can still get a lot out of the story and the beautiful shots.
The cultural references are brilliant. The time of the film is around Norooz, covering the Chaharshanbe soory and Norooz traditions .As the film is also a road movie in the desert, we get to see some snapshots of culture and life in the desert area, wedding ceremony, traditional dance and even a burial.

MirKarimi’s use of different languages and accents and working with none actors are also adding to value of the film, giving it a much more natural and believable reality.
One of my favourite characters was the mullah which added a lovely layer of humour, I was enjoying their dialogues so much that missed him when he said good bye and was hoping to see more of him.
Mirkarimi doesn’t over do anything and knows where to stop. He creates different distractions to cut the long scenes and dialogues and again adding a natural flow to the story.
The journey and transformation of Dr Alamy has a calm and slow mode and Masoud Rayegani gives a sensitive performance.I was happily taken for the ride in his car, connected to his pain and regrets, burning in the sun and breathing the sand. I died with him and got resurrected.

Books

Shahrnush Parsipur at Edinburgh Iranian Festival

One of the most memorable experiences for me during the festival was having the honour of meeting Shahrnush Parsipur and being lucky to spend some time with her. She truly is a great interesting lady with a beautiful sense of humour. For those of you who are not familiar with her work, she is one of the most important figures in Iranian modern literature and one of the first few published Iranian female writers before the revolution. Some examples from her books are: Women without men (which Shinin Neshat’s recent film, with same title is based upon) and Tuba and the meaning of night .She has been poisoned for four years, she fled Iran for U.S since 1992 and is the recipient of the first International Writers Project Fellowship from the Program in Creative Writing and the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University.
www.shahrnushparsipur.com/author.htm

Book reading and Q & A at Word Power Bookshop Monday 2nd Feb 2009:

Word Power bookshop is a leading quality independent bookshop with a great selection of alternative books (http://www.word-power.co.uk) and very cosy atmosphere which had attracted a good number of people despite the heavy snow.
Ms Parsipur was reading from her book, Tuba and the meaning of night followed by a Q& A session.
It appeared that the character of Tuba was inspired by Parsipur’s own grandmother .She wrote the Novel in prison and her first reaction towards it was to destroy it, as it was something she had written in captivity, which she first did but then after she decided to rewrite it. As it was written under Islamic regime she couldn’t freely portray Tuba’s sexual desires so she had no choice other than to creating another character, Leila to present the sexual part of the main character .I found this extremely inspiring, it’s amazing how limitations sometimes can lead to creative approach. When someone asked about her surreal style, she mentioned that she doesn’t necessary stick with a certain style but she uses the best way to express herself and tell her story and in some cases it appears surreal.
She also mentioned that all of her books are banned in Iran but there is still a chance of perhaps finding them in underground market. Some have also been translate into English and available from many major bookshops.

Academic Panel discussion with Shahrnush Parsipur at Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies department. (IMES)Tuesday3rd Feb 2009:
The panel was chaired by Dr. Kamran Rastegar of Edinburgh University‘s IMES department. The discussion was based around Ms Parsipur’s work and post –revolutionary literature in Iran.
During the discussion she mentioned two different type of history in Iran: the history of kings and the history of people. The form of history always written has always been the history of kings but she is trying to write the history of people. She believes that many Iranians don’t remember their history or if they do they ignore it.
Ms Parsipur made it clear that she sees herself as a humanist, not a male hating feminist, as each human has both male and female parts and she wouldn’t like to separate these two apart.
She said when she was in Iran, she wished to be a man, because of all the obvious hassle but when she was in France she was happy to be a woman as she felt at ease .
To explain her views on Iran’s society, she gave an example of an ancient Babylonian mythology, story of Tiamat which was not known to many people as well as me. In this mythology Tiamat, which is the female goddess and creator of all existence is murdered by a young male God called Marduk .From her dead body, he made the Earth, the Sky and Humans.
Ms Parsipur explained that this mythology symbolises the murder of female soul in our universe over 5000 years ago. She claims that because of this, especially in middle east, male have taken over the part of female therefore not being able to exist fully as male themselves.
In society such as Iran the male population have dominated the female for centuries, spoken and have made decision instead of them and female exists as nothing but a dead shell, without a voice or will. For example it is only male that dances in public, or when you hear some of the female singers lyrics they may appear as lesbians as the lyrics are written by males. But this reality is slowly changing and the female energy is finally rising .this is appearing in great rise of female writers , artists and activists , meaning this will also allow male to exist only as male without trying to play the part of the female.
This amazing symbolism was truly new to me and I believe it can be applied to many societies other than eastern societies .At this time in the west, the female soul appears to be up and running but I believe there are still a lot of rejuvenations to be done and constant invocations of female energy.

Comedy

Patric Monahan Friday 30h Jan & Sun 1st Feb 09, Pleasance Cabaret bar

Patrick is an Irish-Iranian sand up comedian, born in Ahvaz 1976.He has performed at 7 Edinburgh Fringe festivals including five solo shows, his warm and friendly storytelling style has been developed through many performances across the globe.
I was not familiar with his work and again I was lucky to meet another brilliant artist. He is very warm and naturally very funny so it was obvious that his show is going to be funny.
His first part of show was based on audience participation and improvisation. The best advice would be don’t sit on the front seats if you are shy as he will defiantly grab you. You won’t be much safe if you are sitting further either .The shyer you get he gets more encouraged, which is a great laugh for audience, but at the same time he is very sweet and no way he would ever offend anyone even though he could appear to be offensive . I remember being very exhausted after laughing you will defiantly lose weight.
His second half is based on his prepared act which for the festival , targeting Iranian audience and was based on his life experience and being raised in an Iranian -Irish family which just the sound of it is funny enough.
He is a none stop ball of energy and once you have met him it would be very difficult to forget him ever.
I believe he is a very crucial element in this world in these hard days .
check out his website and make sure you don’t miss him when he turned up where you are:
www.patrickmonahan.co.uk
www.ents24.com/web/artist/61913/Patrick_Monahan.html


Jody Kamali 5th & 6th Feb09 , Pleasance Cabaret bar

Jody is a Bristolian who has an Iranian father. He is a new comer to stand up comedy as has been switching between straight acting and character comedy, including an Iranian refuge character partly based on his father’s experiences as an student in Bristol at the time of revolution.
Jody was the last artist I met at the festival .It took me awhile to realise I had seen his work on the tube before, as the Bristolian Terry, the odd jobs man. His character Terry can be convincing for many as he is claiming that he is making these clips in order to find odd jobs from the net.
Before I leave for London had the chance to have breakfast with him and had a lovely chat, he truly is a sweet guy.
Although I missed his new show in Edinburgh but I managed to see it in London at Etcetera theatre in Camden. The show was based on his life story and sharing some of the confusions he had while growing up as a half Iranian and the cultural differences he experienced.
He had managed to create a very homely atmosphere and his storytelling style with mixture of characters he played invited everyone into his personal life and made a very close link to the audience. He also successfully demonstrated the Iranian tradition of Tarof , with actively force feeding the audience which immediately reminded me of my grandmother.
The jokes were wonderful and were relevant for none Iranians also as there were a good mixture of people.
For those of you who might not be familiar with his work check out his MySpace page which you can see some clips of his work :
www.myspace.com/jodykamali