Friendship of a rare kind

WHEN THE reclusive Iranian maestro Abbas Kiarostami came to New Delhi as a juror at the international film festival of India (2000), he could shake off the media, but not the group of intrepid youngsters who dogged his footsteps, in foyer and lounge. He might have continued to resist them. But he relented after getting a written demand for a meeting,``We love your work and you have to answer our questions". That letter was written by an Indian {frac12} in Farsi.. The girl was no Lucknow Muslim though. She is as Tamil as they come, with family roots in Chennai, despite residence in the capital, an applied maths degree in Harvard, and training at the film institute at Pune.

How did Anupama Srinivasan develop this passion for Iranian cinema? ``I was just blown over when I saw Kiarostami's``Where is the Friend's Home?''she says.``It motivated me to learn Urdu first, and then Farsi.''Soon she discovered that modern Iranian auteurs like Dariush Mehrjui, Majid Majidi, Abolfazl Jalili, as also women film makers like Pouran Derakhshandeh and Samira Makhmalbaf, in the land of one of the world's oldest cultures, had spurned the Hollywood model to carve their individual style and distinct genre. For the serious Iranian filmmaker, cinema was not mindless entertainment. It sensitised minds, moved hearts, protested against every form of oppression, explored life from often-overlooked perspectives. They uphold the values of liberal humanism in a zealous theocratic regime.A few years later, with students like Farhatullah Beig and Yasser Usman (students of mass communication in Delhi dreaming of making their own films some day) a concrete step was taken towards the goal: the Iranian Film Club was launched (August 7, 2001) in the capital. The packed inaugural screenings were followed by the club's putting together an Iranian package for Cinefan 2001, a festival of Asian cinema in New Delhi (Aug. 26 - Sept. 2).

"We want to introduce more and more Indians to the wonderful world of Iranian cinema, hold regular shows, take the films to schools and colleges, conduct discussions after screenings, interact with Iranian film makers, and translate Farsi books on cinema into English,''says Beig, who also has his own ``Madras'' connection.

``My expulsion from the Vivekananda college hostel for demanding better facilities launched a big students' strike way back in 1996!''

"No such excitement in my life,''Usman grins and explains that he was drawn to Iranian films because``they seem simple on the surface, but are profound and reflective.''

Would the focus on a single country become eventually limiting? It is clear that the thought has not crossed our young enthusiasts' minds. Says Anupama,``We want the people of Iran to know how impressed we are by their films.'' All three gratefully acknowledge the support from the Iran Culture House. Mr.Issa Rezazadeh, the embassy's Cultural Counsellor, himself a cineaste, believes that between two countries which share a rich cultural legacy, efforts like those of the fledgeling film club are a means of strengthening ties and joint ventures.

The club's newsletter lyrically named ``Negah''(Perspective/ Vision), carries Mr.Majid Ahmady's (he is the man in charge of the art and audio visual section at the Iran Culture House) translation of ``Neshani". That is the poem whose first line became the title of the Kiarostami gem, which electrified the Tamil girl.

 ``You see a child
 Up on a tall pine
 picking up a little bird
 from the nest of light.
 You ask that child, 
 `Where is the friend's home?'

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