The 68th Berlin International Film Festival, also known as Berlinale, is underway with the feature film ‘Pig’, written, directed and produced by Mani Haghighi as the only Iranian entry in the main competition lineup.
With his black comedy ‘Pig,’ celebrated screenwriter, actor, film director and producer Haghighi, 48, is competing at Berlinale (February 15-25) with other entries from France, Germany, Ireland, the UK, the US and Paraguay among others.
It is the world premiere of Pig. Haghighi and four of his cast members are now in Berlin to attend the screenings and Q & A sessions. The movie will make its debut on Wednesday to be followed by four more showings on Thursday.
Leila Hatamai and Hassan Majouni who play the leading roles, as well as Ali Mosaffa and Parinaz Izadyar are at the festival in the German capital.
In the film, a serial killer is decapitating famous Iranian directors and blacklisted filmmaker Hassan (played by Hassan Majouni) is upset that he isn’t considered important enough to be one of them.
The international weekly American entertainment trade magazine and website Variety has interviewed Haghighi on his work.
“The main thing I want to make clear is that Pig is a comedy. It’s never the case with this film that anything directly signifies or references anything specific in Iran. Everything in the film has gone through a filter of humor, irony and parody to get there,” Haghighi said.
When it was noted that the film seems somewhat based on reality, Haghighi replied: “It’s referencing some things, but it’s not referencing a person, or a group of people or anything like that … The film is referencing the kind of mood that has been dominating the film industry in Iran for a very long time.”
Speaking about the main character of the movie, Haghighi explained, “he’s beginning to feel like, ‘maybe I’m not as important as I thought I was’. That’s the kind of comic narcissism … As all black comedies must, it takes this sort of dark turn, and then the film becomes a little more serious and complicated”.
Influence of Social Media
The movie also shows Hassan’s relationship with his audience and how that plays out in social media.
When asked by Variety, “is social media affecting Iranian filmmakers similarly to filmmakers in the western world?” Haghighi replied, “Instagram, Twitter and Facebook are huge in Iran. They are very popular. Even though Facebook and Twitter are technically banned, everybody uses them. Social media affects the lives of Iranian artists and filmmakers in exactly the same way (as in the West).
“Just like what is happening in the US, we’ve also seen a sudden mass attack on a specific person (in social media and cyber space), based on nothing other than innuendos and unverifiable claims and things like that – in fact, even more than in the US,” he added.
Speaking about the cast particularly Leila Hatami (who played in Farhadi’s Oscar-winning film ‘A Separation’), Haghighi said, “Leila is a childhood friend. She’s never done a comedy before. Because she’s always been cast in high-concept serious dramas, Leila’s never had the opportunity to reveal the warm and funny side of her character. As for Hassan (Majouni), he’s carrying the entire film. He’s not very well-known outside Iran because he’s primarily a theater actor in Iran, probably one of the best-respected theater actors in Iran. He was perfect for this role; I actually wrote this film for him”.
Haghighi was present at the 2016 Berlinale with his ‘A Dragon Arrives!’ and received positive reviews from acclaimed critics. The film won the Critics’ prize at the 12th Bucharest International Film Festival in 2016.
Berlinale is one of the world’s leading annual film festivals and most reputable media events.
With German director, screenwriter, film composer and producer Tom Tykwer serving as jury president this year, the international jury will decide the winners of the Golden Bear and Silver Bears of the 2018 Berlinale Competition.
Iran won the Golden Bear in 2011 for Asghar Farhadi’s film ‘A Separation’ and the Silver Bear several times by various filmmakers and actors.
Also participating from Iran in the Generation 14plus section of this year’s Berlinale, there are two feature films namely ‘Dressage’ directed by Pooya Badkoobeh and ‘Hendi & Hormoz’ by Abbas Amini, both will have their world premieres at the event.
Dressage will have its first showing on Wednesday while the debut screening of Hendi & Hormoz is slated for Feb. 22.
In the Panorama section (noncompetitive), Shahram Mokri’s ‘Invasion’ had its international premiere and was shown to the audiences on Feb. 17.
Further, there are more Iranian productions present at the European Film Market of the 68th Berlinale including feature films ‘Damascus Time’ directed by Ebrahim Hatamikia, ‘The Lost Strait’ by Bahram Tavakoli as well as the 3D animation ‘The Gools’, a joint production of Iran and the US, directed by Farzad Dalvand.
