Iranian Filmmaker Ali Asgari on Satire, Censorship and Absurdities Behind ‘Divine Comedy’: ‘You Show How Silly and Stupid the Rules Are’
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| Courtesy of Ali Asgari and Variety. |
Iranian filmmaker Ali Asgari has long explored the quiet tensions and bureaucratic pressures of everyday life in Iran, from his acclaimed shorts to festival recognized features like “Disappearance,” “Until Tomorrow,” and “Terrestrial Verses.” In competition at the Doha Film Festival, he arrives with his latest work, “Divine Comedy,” which premiered earlier this year in Venice’s Horizons sidebar, and pushes his familiar themes into more overtly comedic territory.
Starring director Bahman Ark as Bahram, the story centers on a mid-career filmmaker whose entire body of Turkish-Azeri-language work has never been screened in Iran. When his newest film is once again rejected by cultural authorities, he joins forces with his sharp-witted producer, Sadaf (Sadaf Asgari), to stage an underground guerrilla screening in Tehran. What begins as a simple act of defiance becomes a darkly funny journey through red tape, cultural gatekeeping, and the range of anxieties facing any artist determined to create freely.
The film is a multinational co-production between Iran, Italy, France, Germany and Turkey, with international sales handled by Goodfellas.
