lifestyle SUNDAY, MARCH 15, 2015

Iranian filmmakers defy regime to foreign acclaim

ranian filmmakers, at home and in exile, are breaking free this regime but we will have a good history of Iranian cinema.” “What I had to say (about Iran), I said at length.... I don’t like Iranian ‘vampire western’ from restrictions-imposed both by their repressive govern- to redo what I know what to do because I feel like I’m not pro- Given the oppression and censorship in Iran, some of the Iment and by audience expectations-to form a creative ‘Iran is in me’ gressing enough,” Satrapi told AFP. freshest visions starting to emerge about the country come wave that is increasingly winning attention internationally. “Taxi” by Jafar Panahi, a dissident director living in Tehran Still, “Iran is in me, it’s my country,” she stressed, adding from the postrevolutionary generation born and raised out- The 2011 Oscar win for the Iranian movie “A Separation” who is defying a ban by the government there on making that the Islamic Republic’s crackdown on Panahi and freedom side their parents’ country. snapped the focus on what was coming out of the Islamic movies for 20 years, is the latest big success. His film, smug- of expression generally “particularly affects me”. Ana Lily Amirpour, an Iranian-American born in Britain, Republic. But those in the industry emphasise that other gled out of Iran, took top prize at the Berlin film festival last Makhmalbaf, who now holds a French passport and lives in offers one such movie: a black-and-white “vampire western” notable productions go well beyond regime-approved por- month. Britain, and who has survived what he said were four attempts about a trendy, bloodsucking Iranian dressed in Islamic garb trayals of daily Iranian life. Despite the accolade, “Taxi” won’t be be shown in Iranian by Iran’s regime to murder him, says that after 10 years in titled “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night”. From this year’s Berlinale triumph of “Taxi” to a couple of cinemas. But it will certainly be seen anyway by Iran’s legions exile, “I don’t know where is my homeland... little by little I am The 2014 film, shot in California but set in an imaginary fresh American-made movies including a dark comedy by the of film fans who pay a dollar or two for bootleg DVDs in a less Iranian, honestly”. Iranian town and featuring Farsi dialogue throughout, has maker of the groundbreaking “Persepolis”, and other films hit- thriving underground market. He, too, adheres to a more universal identity, shaking off been well-received and opened up career horizons for ting screens abroad, the output is challenging Tehran’s cen- That same market will also offer “The Voices”, a less-lofty, any attempt to pigeon-hole him as concentrating on Iran, Amirpour. sors and easy categorisation. more commercial movie by Marjane Satrapi, the Iranian- which he was forced to flee a decade ago. In the same vein as Satrapi and Makhmalbaf, though, she is “Iran has strong art and cinema” that will thrive no matter French director behind the award-winning 2007 black-and- “I am first a human being, second I am (an) artist, third I not looking to an Iran-themed or -inspired next project. the adversity, exiled Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf told white animation “Persepolis”. was born in Iran-not the reverse.” Instead, she told the online magazine Indiewire, which AFP as he presented his latest movie, “The President”, about a The new film, a macabre comedy starring Ryan Reynolds as Fellow director Panahi, he said, was “brave and has a lot of writes on independent movies and movie-making, she’s doing Central Asian republic’s dictator toppled in a revolution and a man pushed to murder by his talking pets, has nothing at all support, that’s why he makes each year one film”. Other aspir- a film-in English this time-that she summed up as a violent running for his life. to do with her native country. It can be seen as part of a delib- ing filmmakers in Iran are in prison or in exile-”but you don’t “post-cannibalistic love story”. — AFP “There is hope for this cinema, more than for the life of the erate plan in her evolution to becoming a director first-and know their names”. dictatorship in Iran. There is hope that one day we don’t have not one exclusively associated with stories about Iran.

Katie White and Jules De Martino of The Ting Tings. Lead guitarist and singer Katie White (R) and Jules De Martino (L) from The British duo A file picture taken on August 1, 2009 shows Katie White of the Ting Tings as she per- The Ting-Tings perform at the Bowery Ballroom in New York on January 20, 2015. — AFP forms on stage during Points West Music & Arts Festival at Liberty State Park in Jersey photos City, New Jersey. Ibiza is synonymous with pulsating electronic music but when the British duo The Ting-Tings went to the Spanish island, they took inspiration not from the sweaty dance-floor but from the off-season oddities. Hit duo Ting-Tings find voice in off-season resort biza is synonymous with pulsating electronic music but when Critical,” which came out late last year and will be accompanied Instead, “Wrong Club” is a 21st-century successor to The that the major labels weren’t a good fit. “We don’t understand the British duo The Ting-Tings went to the Spanish island, by a North American tour that kicks off in late March. Smiths’ “Panic,” with a theme not of elation but isolation as the why we would want to write the same album again for more Ithey took inspiration not from the sweaty dance-floor but In Ibiza, The Ting-Tings frequented the clubs but realized that supposed joy of nightlife turns to misery. sales. We want to be creative, and that makes us quite an awk- from the off-season oddities. they had little desire to venture into electronic dance music. “It’s “Hey - I’m in the wrong club / Listening to this shit / Hey - I’m ward band to work with in some respects,” she said. The Ting-Tings had enjoyed runaway success with two New just not in our souls, like New Wave and disco and punk are,” in the wrong life / Someone get me out of it,” White sings to the Part of the creative process is the nomadic recording. Besides Wave-ish songs marked by sassy vocals and funky bass-”That’s White said. Taylor helped acquaint The Ting-Tings with the deceptively upbeat music. Ibiza, The Ting-Tings made their previous album in Berlin and Not My Name” and “Shut Up and Let Me Go”-but after a luke- sounds of late 1970s New York-the raw reverb of punk clubs “I think it’s a story that everybody has gone through,” White their debut in their native Manchester. warm reception for their follow-up, they went to clear their such as CBGB as well as the disco-era Studio 54 where Diana explained. “It’s four o’clock in the morning, you’re the last person White, who traveled little as a child, said she often fantasized heads in Ibiza’s winter. Ross would sing from the DJ’s table. at the party and it’s shit, and you just hate your life.” about moving to places she tours. She said she always enjoyed “It’s quite a fascinating island because in-season it’s known as “When we saw it, we said that’s exactly what we’re trying to The album offers hints of both the disco era and Ibiza club- shows in France and Japan and was fascinated playing in China. one of the clubbing capitals. But in winter, it’s full of odd, eccen- do,” White said. “The idea was of a band sitting in the DJ booth bing-in style, if not directly the sound-on tracks such as “Do It (The Ting-Tings’ name comes loosely from the Mandarin for tric characters. It’s a very random place,” vocalist and guitarist and playing the drops.” Again,” “Communication” and “Failure,” while still keeping the “band-stands.”) But White mused that The Ting-Tings might Katie White told AFP. band’s emphasis on guitar licks and bass. record next in the United States, perhaps Nashville, although she Among those random Ibiza encounters-White and her band- The misery of clubbing stressed they weren’t going into country music. mate, Jules De Martino, bumped into Andy Taylor, the former The album’s first single is “Wrong Club,” which like The Ting- Seeking new sounds “When you move countries, it’s like being a new band. You guitarist of 1980s British pop giants Duran Duran. Tings’ best-known hits is driven by an infectious, danceable bass In one change, The Ting-Tings-whose last album did not gen- know that something is going to happen, and that’s what we’re The Ting-Tings didn’t recognize the older musician at first but line. But the sound is deceptive as lyrically “Wrong Club” could erate the hits of their 2008 debut, “We Started Nothing”-parted addicted to.” — AFP quickly found common interests. They wound up spending 15 serve as a fitting foil to the famous ode to the Mediterranean ways with the Sony group and went independent. months with Taylor as he produced the duo’s third album, “Super island, “We’re Going to Ibiza.” White voiced appreciation for Sony’s past support but said Bearded Austrian diva is living her dream

ong legs crossed, one leopard-skin patterned spike heel programming because of Wurst, accusing “European liberals” of dangling, the bearded diva with the expressive brown eyes subjecting their children to a “hotbed of sodomy.” The haters still Lleans back and laughs heartily when asked what has exist - but Wurst says there is also a growing group of “incredible” changed for her since winning Europe’s biggest entertainment Russian fans pushing to have her biography published in Russia. contest nearly a year ago. “I made the decision years ago not to focus on negativity,” she “I’m living my dream,” Conchita Wurst told The Associated said. And since the win, “many people have told me that they Press in an interview. “Everything fell into the right place for me.” have changed their mind about me - they got inspired, which is Everything may be a big word. But for the drag queen, whose just overwhelming for me.” Her fuchsia-colored blouse and green In this file picture taken on September 24, 2009, British television BBC presenter of motor show “Top Gear” Jeremy journey of self-discovery took her from bigoted small-town skirt perfectly accenting her makeup, Wurst looked as if she were Clarkson is pictured while he drives an Aston Martin car on Transfagarasan road close to Sibiu city, 300 km northwest Austria to her emotional victory at the 2014 Eurovision song con- never anyone else than the persona that has made her famous. from Bucharest. The BBC on March 10, 2015, said it had suspended Jeremy Clarkson, the controversial host of popular test, the last 10 months appear to have confirmed that her path - motoring programme “Top Gear”, after he became involved in a “fracas” with a producer. — AFP though not always easy - was the right one. Conservative values She rubs shoulders with fashion icons Jean-Paul Gaultier and But even if she says that she is now immune to hate, that was- Karl-Lagerfeld and plays sold out gigs across Europe. Her appear- n’t always so. Born 25 years ago to innkeepers as Tom Neuwirth, ances on Austrian radio talk shows attract callers from as far away Wurst was raised in the sleepy Austrian town of Bad Mittendorf, Top Gear presenter Clarkson as California. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has paid his where conservative values were the norm - not a very comfort- respects. She has addressed the European Parliament on LGBT able place for someone who was different even as a child. rights, and her biography has just appeared in German, with oth- “I was constantly stressed, the target of the derisive glances of er languages to follow. Less than a year ago, over 15,000 Russians my school mates and their taunting,” she recounts in the book suspended over ‘fracas’: BBC demanded that their state broadcaster purge the contest from its “Ich, Conchita.” (“I Conchita.”) Visits to the school toilet turned into osts of motoring television shows rarely generate head- In the short-term, it is likely to have to compensate foreign broad- nightmares with classmates seeking to find out “if the queer lines, but the furore over the suspension of “Top Gear” host casters for cancelling the remaining shows in the current series looks different.” And “each morning when I thought of school, my Jeremy Clarkson reveals much about British society and that was being filmed when Clarkson was suspended. Uncertainly stomach wanted to turn.” H national broadcaster the BBC. also looms over a sold-out live event in Stavanger, Norway, which Wurst came out at 17. But instead of bringing release, the dec- Clarkson, who was already on his last warning from the BBC, is due to be held on March 27 and 28. laration backfired with her family - at least initially. After several was suspended on Tuesday following a “fracas” with an assistant performances brought her some local fame, she was asked by a producer which is now subject to an investigation. ‘Pushing the boundaries’ reporter for a weekly if she was gay. Suddenly she realized that He hinted Saturday that he could be about to leave the broad- Many believe that commercial concerns have allowed she had to stop lying to herself and those closest to her. caster, calling himself a “dinosaur” and adding: “The day must Clarkson to stay on despite a series of controversies over race. Yes, she blurted out. Then “I went home to my parents, and come when you have to wave goodbye to the big monsters” in his Most damaging for Clarkson have been accusations of using said, ‘listen, I’m gay.’” Wurst’s parents might well have suspected column for the Sun newspaper. the N-word while reciting an old nursery rhyme in leaked footage, her sexual orientation - she loved dressing up in women’s clothes To his supporters, Clarkson is a humorous, straight-talking something the presenter denied. The show also drew controversy since childhood. Still she says that for them, the shock was “not man-of-the-people standing up to the petty bureaucracy and after a racially offensive Clarkson comment about an Asian man. the fact that I’m gay but (that) a week later a newspaper will political correctness which they blame for the country’s ills. Last year, the “Top Gear” crew including Clarkson fled come out and everybody will know it,” including the conservative In the eyes of his detractors, he is a boorish bigot who speaks Argentina after residents hurled stones at a Porsche they were clientele frequenting her parents’ inn. only for out-of-touch white men and whose friendship with the driving whose licence plates appeared to reference the Falklands Eight years on, she calls that moment “one of the most country’s most powerful figures belies his anti-establishment pos- War. “Top Gear” has also landed in hot water over its depictions of important of my life ... that second where I chose to be myself turing. Caught in the middle is the BBC, for whom Clarkson has Albanians, Romanians and Germans, while the BBC apologised to 100 percent.” Her name is a play on the Austrian expression “it’s worked since 1988, turning the show from a specialist programme Mexico after the show described Mexicans as “lazy” and “feckless”. wurst to me,” meaning “I don’t care.” And her winning song “Rise aimed at petrolheads into a weekly hit watched by five million “His antics... suggest that he holds his employer in contempt Like a Phoenix” largely describes her transformation from a people in Britain, around 40 percent of them female. and sees it as a bit of a mission, pushing the boundaries of what youth hurting under the taunts of peers to someone who now It has also become a global hit with more than 350 million he sees as its political correctness,” said Deborah Orr, columnist says she is totally comfortable being both Wurst and Neuwirth. viewers in 214 countries and earns around £50 million ($73 mil- with the left-leaning Guardian. “It’s time for a parting of the ways.” Still, she cautions others to think hard about when, and how to Conchita Wurst, Austrian winner of the Eurovision Song lion, 70 million euros) in revenue each year for the broadcaster’s A YouGov poll found that 45 percent of Britons think he should be follow her example. “Just take your time,” she said in near-flaw- commercial arm, BBC Worldwide. sacked, although a petition calling for his reinstatement has Contest 2014, talks, during an interview with The Associated less English. — AP Press in Vienna, Austria. Long legs crossed, one leopard-skin But the BBC now faces a dilemma over whether to keep its already received over 800,000 signatures.—AFP patterned spike heel dangling, the bearded diva with the troublesome star or risk further trouble down the line. expressive brown eyes leans back and laughs a throaty laugh “It is a bureaucratic machine that must try to please every- when asked what has changed for her since winning Europe’s body, because everybody pays for it,” said The Economist weekly, biggest entertainment contest nearly a year ago. — AP referring to the yearly licence fee paid by British television viewers.