Length: 45 minutes
Category: Documentary
Country: Iran
Year of production: 2004
Screened in:
Synopsis
Restrictions on performing rock concerts in Iran led a 10 member group of music fans in 2002 to hold a contest on the Internet for Tehran’s underground rock bands.
Director’s Note
Three years of roaming among musicians of Tehran resulted in 4000 minutes of footage; the outcome of 14 months of editing were two films centered on the theme of “restrictions on music in Iran.”
- Back Vocal tells the story of women singers, whose unaccompanied singing is forbidden by religious laws of the country, but who nonetheless try to remain active; even if that means taking the second seat. I knew from the beginning that such a film would not get permission to be screened, so I never applied for a permit.
- Off Beat is about young music lover—influenced by musical trends in the world, some of which are deemed harmful by officials in Iran—who have no place in the formal Iranian music scene and who play music in the quiet of their homes. Once I started editing Off Beat I realized that it may not get permission for screening. I nonetheless applied… but it was in vain.
It is only through the screening of a work that a director may call it final; even if that director has to go out of his/her way to do it, and that at great expense.
