Interview with Shahram Mokri on the occasion of Careless Crime’s participation in the Venice Film Festival

Shahram Mokri
Director

Interview with Shahram Mokri on the occasion of Careless Crime’s participation in the Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival pays special attention to Iranian cinema

Behnaz Shirbani: The 77th edition of the Venice International Film Festival was held this year in a notably different format. Organizing such a cultural event during the COVID-19 pandemic was undoubtedly a major challenge for its organizers. Nevertheless, this prestigious global festival went ahead, and this year it hosted three representatives from Iranian cinema.

Shahram Mokri also took part in the festival with his latest feature film, Careless Crime. A film that had not yet been screened in Iran following its production, and experienced its international premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

The 14th edition of the Golden Bisato Awards—an annual honor presented by an independent jury held in parallel with the Venice Film Festival, selecting its winners from among the films featured in the event—awarded its Best Screenplay prize this year to Shahram Mokri and Nasim Ahmadpour for Careless Crime.

The synopsis of Careless Crime reads: “The film has a theme related to cinema and is about a group of moviegoers who talk about a film before its screening begins, and as the events on the cinema screen unfold, their story and the film's narrative merge.”

The cast of this cinematic work includes Babak Karimi, Razieh Mansouri, Abolfazl Kahani, Mohammad Sareban, Adel Yaraghi, Mohammad Behraznia, and Behzad Dorani.

On the occasion of the film’s world premiere and its success at the Venice Film Festival, we sat down with Shahram Mokri. We invite you to read the full interview.

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↘ You are among the directors who have participated in the Venice Film Festival for the second time, and of course this year the atmosphere of the festival was different from previous editions. How was the audience reaction after watching Careless Crime at the festival, and which part of the film raised the most questions? And considering that this was the first time the film was screened at a festival, what was the experience of watching it with a non-Iranian audience like?

Yes, this is the second time I am participating in the Venice Film Festival. The first time was with the film Fish & Cat in 2013, and now in 2022. The important point and the significant difference between this edition of the festival and the previous one was that it was held under the special conditions of the COVID pandemic.

This situation had led to a larger number of Italian attendees at the festival compared to international audiences from other countries. As a result, we were mostly watching the films with viewers, critics, journalists, and cinema enthusiasts from Italy, and the number of international attendees present in the theaters was significantly lower.

This decrease did not only affect the film audiences; the number of photographers at the festival was also lower than before. The photocall, red carpet events, and all other related programs were held in a new format and under new conditions, and overall, the festival had a somewhat newer and more unfamiliar appearance, which was even a fresh experience for the organizers themselves.

Regarding Careless Crime, I think the way the audience engaged with the film was better than I had thought. My film tells a story that is deeply rooted in Iranian culture and history, and because of that, from the very first day I began writing and making the script, I kept thinking about how a non-Iranian audience might relate to it.

At the Venice Film Festival, and with the screening of Careless Crime, it was the first time we were watching the film with an audience other than an Iranian one. Before this, I had only screened the film in Iran for a few limited people.

Fortunately, because the film has a story related to cinema itself and features the “film within a film” concept, I realized that this aspect of it quickly and effectively connected with the non-Iranian audience. We were lucky to receive good written and video reviews in digital media and the press about the film, and on the other hand, we also received the Independent Critics Award of the Venice Festival for the original screenplay the night before the main ceremony.

I think these aspects show that the film was able to establish a strong connection with non-Iranian viewers, contrary to my initial assumptions.

↘ The Venice Film Festival is a rare and remarkable event in terms of the significant presence of Iranian films. What is your assessment of this edition of the festival and the presence of representatives of Iranian cinema?
I think Iranian films performed successfully in this edition of the festival. The Wasteland, directed by Ahmad Bahrami, was screened during the early days of the festival and fortunately attracted critics’ attention from the very beginning, receiving very positive reviews, and at the closing ceremony, it won the Best Film award in the Orizzonti section.
On the other hand, Mr. Majidi’s film was well received in its public screening. The audience appreciated the story related to child labor. In my opinion, both films managed to engage the emotions of their viewers.
In this edition of the festival, considering that three Iranian films were present, and moreover, all three films received attention from critics and also won various awards, I believe it was one of the festival's most remarkable and rare editions of the festival—especially in terms of the number of films.
I think the Venice Festival pays special attention to Iranian cinema, and I hope that every year, Iranian films will be present at this festival.

↘ Do you have plans to screen the film in Iran, or are festival trips ahead?
We wanted to screen the film in Iran much earlier. But considering the special circumstances that cinema has faced this year—which are not exclusive to Iran—the screening situation has become a bit complicated. We have several other prestigious festivals coming up soon for the screening of Careless Crime. We intended to begin the film’s festival run much earlier. Our film had been selected for the Karlovy Vary Festival before Venice; but since that festival was cancelled due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, the film’s premiere ended up being at the Venice Festival—which fortunately turned out to be a good opportunity. From now on, too, news of the film’s participation in other festivals will soon be announced.
Fortunately, Ms. Mirshab is working on the film’s international presence and sales through her company. During the Venice Festival, we managed to assign the film’s distribution in France, and we hope that the film will be released in France sometime in 2022, by the end of the year. But regarding its screening in Iran, I still don’t know what date to consider. That’s because we are waiting for the screening conditions in Iran to normalize a bit. I know there are many films in Iran waiting for the same circumstances, and once that happens and the screening conditions in Iran return to a more normal state, we will definitely make plans to release the film.
Careless Crime also has a distributor inside Iran, and I hope that as soon as screening conditions in Iranian cinema improve, we’ll be able to screen the film before the end of the current year.

Shargh Newspaper, September 15, 2020, Year 18, No. 3817, Page 6