THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : “Good films should always reach the audience. They should never be termed festival films and be limited there,” said acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi. He was speaking in the ‘In Conversation’ session at the 23rd International Film Festival of Kerala here on Monday. Majidi is the jury chairman of IFFK.
“I’m so happy to be in Kerala. The faces of the people who have watched my films, their feelings and joy excite me. This is most important to me as a filmmaker than the accolades I received from numerous film festivals,” he said in a session with Kerala State Chalachitra Academy vice-chairperson Bina Paul.
He also commented on the cultural similarities between his homeland and India.
Reflecting on his experiences as a filmmaker, he said: “The road was difficult. ‘Children of Heaven’ was refused by several production companies. ‘It is only a brother and a sister and a shoe, no one would watch it’, they said. My friends suggested me to drop the project. But I never gave up. Then things turned around. I found a producer who accepted to do it, but on a low budget.
However, it went on to receive over a hundred awards all across the world. It got translated to over 50 languages, and the entire world watched it. It has even been incorporated into the school and university syllabi in several countries. Hard work brings success.” The 2015 production, Muhammad is a collaborative project with Indian musical maestro A R Rahman. “I always wanted to work with Rahman. We share a very good relationship. I wanted the best in the business for Muhammad.
“Though it portrays the childhood of the prophet, is not a religious film. It is about humanity. I wanted to narrate to the people, what Islam, in reality, is – it is all about kindness, friendship and love. Violence and terrorism have no place in it,” he said. “I have been working on my next project for the past four months. Hopefully, it will reach the audience in 2019,” he added.