{"id":13384,"date":"2025-12-05T16:30:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T11:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theeducationoverview.in\/?p=13384"},"modified":"2025-12-05T16:30:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T11:00:33","slug":"iffi-brings-iran-and-iraq-together-as-filmmakers-share-stirring-cinematic-testimonies-of-life-under-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theeducationoverview.in\/?p=13384","title":{"rendered":"IFFI Brings Iran and Iraq Together as Filmmakers Share Stirring Cinematic Testimonies of Life Under Pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"
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IFFI Brings Iran and Iraq Together as Filmmakers Share Stirring Cinematic Testimonies of Life Under Pressure<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n


\n\u2018My Daughter\u2019s Hair\u2019 Cuts through the Heart of Iran\u2019s Social Realities<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

\u2018The President\u2019s Cake\u2019 Serves a Slice of Life Under Dictatorship<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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#IFFIWood, 26 November 2025<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

At the IFFI press conference today, Iran and Iraq shared the stage, telling stories of ordinary people who are pushed to survive extraordinary circumstances. Two nations with turbulent histories, two films born from political pressures, and two teams united by a common conviction came together to trace the emotional cartography of their nations, connecting personal memories with collective wounds.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Representing the Iranian feature \u2018My Daughter\u2019s Hair (Raha),\u2019 a film that is competing in the \u2018Best Debut Feature Film of a Director\u2019 section in IFFI, Director Seyed Hesam Farahmand Joo and Producer Saeid Khaninamaghi joined the conversation. For Iraq\u2019s \u2018The President\u2019s Cake,\u2019 competing for ICFT UNESCO Gandhi Medal, Editor Alexandru-Radu Radu spoke about the film\u2019s unique form and its stark portrayal of life under dictatorship.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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A Middle-Class Family in Crisis, A Country in Reflection<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Hesam revealed that \u2018My Daughter\u2019s Hair\u2019 stems from his own life experiences. \u201cI wanted to portray the situation of women in my country,\u201d he said, explaining how Raha\u2019s story, selling her hair for a laptop, mirrors the quiet sacrifices made by countless women navigating financial precarity.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Producer Khaninamaghi expanded the context further, describing how recent international sanctions have sharply deteriorated living conditions in Iran.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are going down financially. The middle class is becoming poor,\u201d he said. \u201cIn our film, a family\u2019s entire economy collapses because of one laptop. That is exactly what is happening in our society.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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When asked about the film\u2019s visual language, Hesam rejected the \u201cdrab poverty\u201d aesthetic often imposed on stories about the working class. \u201cI wanted the frames to look exactly like life,\u201d he said. \u201cPoor families also have colourful, happy moments. They laugh, they celebrate, they find colour in their lives. I wanted to show that truth, through the aesthetics of my frames.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Hesam also spoke about wanting to bring such socially rooted stories into commercial cinema. \u201cEarlier, these films were not considered commercial. I want to change that,\u201d he said, hinting that his next project follows the same philosophy.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Khaninamaghi addressed the current scenario in Iranian cinema, emphasising that even as filmmakers push boundaries, their film industry continues to wrestle with censorship. \u201cParts of films get cut, and the audience struggles to understand the full story,\u201d he said.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A Fairy Tale Born in Fear<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Taking the conversation to Iraq of the 1990s, Alexandru-Radu Radu described \u2018The President\u2019s Cake\u2019 as a film built on \u201cstreet-cast\u201d performances. All the actors are non-professionals, selected from everyday life, which gives the film its distinct immediacy.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Radu explained that the film focuses on how sanctions and authoritarian rule crush the lower classes. \u201cWhen such things happen, the people suffer, not the dictators,\u201d he said, recounting how the film\u2019s plot is inspired by a dictator forcing the citizens to celebrate his birthday. The story of a young girl, Lamia, tasked with baking a cake for Saddam Hussein, teeters between absurdity and lived reality.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Director Hasan Hadi, he said, envisioned the story as a fairy tale.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHasan wanted Lamia to be a symbol of Iraq,\u201d Radu explained. \u201cEverything happening to her reflects everything happening to the country.\u201d Radu also spoke about Iraq\u2019s young and emerging film industry: \u201cUnlike Iran, Iraq doesn\u2019t have a rich film tradition. \u2018The President\u2019s Cake\u2019 is the first art-house film in Iraq. Directors like Hasan are now building that industry.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Despite coming from different countries and cinematic traditions, both films circle similar truths: the weight of sanctions, the resilience of ordinary people, and the everyday negotiations of dignity under political pressure. By the end, the conversation felt like a bridge stretching from Tehran to Baghdad, built not of politics, but of storytelling.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

PC Link:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n