How often does one encounter a hyper-eloquent, highly gracious filmmaker who studied cinema at U of T? What about one who continues to receive praise for his groundbreaking films, one of which was confiscated by authorities in Iran under pain of arrest? And what if this person also places Iranian singer-songwriter Mohsen Namjoo and Lil’ Wayne at the top of his current playlist? Clearly, Babak Payami is a pretty rare breed.
Payami, a revered writer-director whose work has earned frequent praise—including a Best Director nod at the Venice Film Festival—is back at his old stomping grounds for the U of T Film Festival, happening March 13 at Hart House. He will be in attendance for screenings of his films One More Day, Secret Ballot, and Silence Between Two Thoughts. Payami took time out from his dizzyingly hectic schedule last week to chat with The Varsity.
I begin by asking how Payami is doing, and he informs me that a close friend of his has been arrested that morning in Iran. The control in his voice and the authority with which this news was relayed to me was disquieting. For a man who has been ruffling feathers and taking on the seemingly unconquerable all his life, the news must have been as foreseeable as it was disheartening.
Payami’s thinking seems to be defined by two opposing frames of mind: his home of many years has been Toronto, particularly its arts and cultural community, but he remains connected with Iran, his country of birth. “I’m proudly Iranian by natural necessity,” he stated with striking clarity and resonance, “but proudly Canadian by adult choice.” Still, his lifelong passion for Iran has provided him with his identity and inspiration.
While on a trip back to Iran in 2003, Payami took a bus ride and witnessed a man and a woman separated by a metal bar, a typical sight in the country. It unexpectedly ignited a creative flame for him, and the plot of his next film was mentally scripted before he left the vehicle.
“[Filmmaking is all about] contradictions and restrictions and how people deal with that,” he explains. “I could not sit and quietly watch without reacting to it. What the hell does [that metal rod] mean? Some people would tell me women are molested, fondled, mistreated and the best solution is this metal rod. It wouldn’t occur to them that maybe there has to be more profound social remedies. People sometimes resort to the easiest and worst solution to an existing social problem. [It was] inhibition that was so oppressive and so overwhelming.”
Though Payami moved away from Iran as a child, he maintains that his connection to the country and sensitivity to its people’s plight remain intact.
“It was very frustrating for me that [acquaintances from Iran] would accuse me of ignorance since I’ve been away for such a time,” he remarked. “I find myself very fascinated and in some aspects very sensitive and more detailed towards the situation. The fact that I’ve been away from the country has only reinforced the connection and made it stronger.”
Payami is also reverent towards U of T, and the Hart House Film Board in particular. He cites several influential players the university’s film and theatre community as close friends and mentors.
“Hart House is fascinating for me. The first time I laid my hands on a 16mm camera was the Hart House 16mm camera.” Still, he makes a clear distinction between academic filmmaking and the knowledge gained from life experience: “You can’t learn to become a filmmaker. What made [U of T] unique to me was the atmosphere—the colleagues and the friends, the time that we spent scraping up resources. We always reminisce about it.”
Payami is an artist—a man who sticks to his guns and refuses to follow the crowd. “I wanted to make a film about bin Laden,” he recounts, “then 9/11 happened and [I was] at the risk of appealing to the media frenzy. My approach to filmmaking is not sensationalizing something everything is interested in.
“For me, artistic endeavour can be likened to pregnancy. It’s part of your being and you have to get it out. Then something comes out that is beautiful and has a life of its own and influences people. [Throughout the experience] you follow your own nature and trust your instincts.”
Payami’s positive influence and passion will hopefully prove to be beneficial for the struggling artistic community in Iran. “We are faced with a government that is allergic to culture and art. Culture and art in their essence have a tendency to go against dogma and break boundaries. It is anarchy that fuels art, and anarchy cannot sit within the structure of a regime.”
After conversing for nearly an hour and a half, I ask the innovative director, writer, father, political crusader, and eternal artist if he has any advice for would-be filmmakers.
“I am the perfect example of what you shouldn’t do with your career,” he says, laughing. And that was the one thing Payami said that I didn’t take seriously.
The U of T Film Festival takes place at Hart House on Saturday, March 13. For more information, visit uoftfilmfest.ca.
