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I just listened very intently to what they had to say.
They can never really reveal who they are.
More generally, I think thats what totalitarianism does to everyone in a totalitarian society.
The interference of the state within every aspect of life of its citizens is pretty clear.
You were watching the Woman, Life, Freedom protests from inside Evin Prison with other prisoners.
I interviewed a great number of very young female protesters.
These two formed the raw materials for the story.
We watched them in great detail.
The choice of the actual videos was in collaboration with the films editor, Andrew Bird.
Some material was on social media, so we simply downloaded it.
It was about four hours of footage altogether.
How did you handle casting?
But I had no idea who should play the other characters.
I knew that there was a group of people it was possible to start talking to.
Constructing a family onscreen is always difficult.
I actually tasked four collaborators with that casting.
We got to a shorter shortlist because quite a few people fell off the grid.
They thought that they were being cast for a short film.
But we had to find the eldest daughter, Rezvan.
Quite a few people were almost chosen, then they got afraid and they abandoned the project.
The first time she read the script, she still didnt know who the director was.
Setareh, Mahsa, and Niousha have left Iran.
At Cannes, you held up pictures of Missagh and Soheila.
They did everything in their power to place the utmost pressure on the cast and crew.
But they never did.
They simply let me know what was happening to them.
After Cannes, so many bizarre things happened in Iran.
The president died in a helicopter crash.
Theres been this building escalation between Iran and Israel, with missiles launching back and forth.
Its a bit as if the regime was too busy with more important matters.
The sound recordist was also able to leave the country.
But the DOP is still in Iran.
Soheila is still in Iran.
So are various designers; actually, the great majority of the crew are still inside Iran.
Soheila is free on bail.
Were awaiting the outcome.
Youve said that although youre now not in Iran, you want to continue making Iranian stories.
I think the place youre born in gives you a specific window onto life, onto the world.
Because of the restrictions placed on you, you were not able to be on set.
I understand that you sent your assistant directors out with a shot list every day.
How else did that process work?
Were you reviewing footage after filming each day?No, I didnt work that way.
I was watching from a certain distance and directing in real time.
For instance, for exteriors, we had all these fake filming permits.
Thanks to the advancement of technology, it was possible to direct remotely.
Of course, it was much more difficult.
Its almost like being on set but with ones entire concentration focused on whats happening on the monitor.
I did have two assistants on set through which I communicated with the various departments.
[Slaps hands over his face.]
I know, its very strange.
I dont think its strange.
This is not our aesthetics.
Its not our choice.
Its the aesthetics of totalitarianism.
Anyone who has been to the judiciary building next to Evin Prison will recognize this.
The wall of my prosecutor looked like this, with those posters and pictures.
Whoever has been in that building and in that room will recognize it straight away.
As for the cardboard cutouts, we didnt create them.
We simply bought them.
Id like to say one more thing.
Youre asked exactly the same questions.
They have access to all of your file.
They see the answers.
You have to answer them again, then sign each one of them.
Its a very lengthy and extremely harassing, disturbing process.
Go in, and you will forget about your fears.
Was his advice correct did you lose your fears as the production went on?Yes.
The fear didnt disappear quite as soon as Mr. Panahi had predicted, but eventually it did.
Once were filming, we have to do everything really quickly.
Was there anything about this film that you wish could have been done differently?
Do you feel the same way as you did then?Its even worse than withThere Is No Evil.
Its not that I watch it and say, I wish Id done that.
It was divided into four episodes.
This one was much longer; even the script is much longer.
And we had this terrible feeling.
It was really like always being on the edge of the abyss.
There was no difference between filming 0 percent or 99 percent of the film.
It was only when we reached 100 percent that we felt it was not useless.
Can you tell me about deciding that it would be Sana who took her fathers gun?
And thats where the story of Sadaf, the friend of the girls, acquires major significance.
What came first, writing the chase through the ruins, or findingthe ruins in Kharanaq?
But I scripted it because, in the final act of the film, the cinematic language changes.
It moves to a metaphorical level, and so its important to find the visual means to explore that.
Its almost as if Im projecting the story of this family on a historical dimension.
A relationship must be established between Iranian history and the vicissitudes and the events of this family.
And khak be sareht, not really.
That is warm, soft.
Patriarchy is falling down, is plummeting, is drowning.
That doesnt mean its disappeared.
[Nods and gives a thumbs-up.]
