Winner of WAALM® award for Best Independent
Film Director
©Kayvan
Mashayekh
It’s been a long and
thrilling journey of six years for its director Kayvan Mashayekh and his young
crew of actors, producers, technicians and all who contributed to the making of
his first independent epic film The Keeper: The Legend of Omar Khayyam.
Awarded at several film Festivals like Moscow and most recently at the
2nd Annual Persian Golden Lioness Awards 2006 in Budapest, Hungary
along with actors Shohreh Aghdashloo and Omid Djalili, Producer Shabnam Rezaie
and director Dustin Ellis, Mashayekh’s film is now available on DVD through
Walmart, Hollywood Video and Netflix along with a host of other small US
retailers since September 5th. This has been quite an accomplishment on many
levels for the young Iranian Diaspora film industry and Art form.
Crew on
location shooting The Keeper in Uzbekistan ©Guide Company
Films
First it has proven
that a movie about Persian historical characters is marketable and can seduce an
international audience. Second It has also been a milestone for the Diaspora
Cinema for casting Hollywood Legends (Vanessa Redgrave, Diane Baker, Rade
Serbedzija) in a Persian-American movie. And thirdly Masheyekh’s film
experience is one that should inspire other aspiring Iranian Diaspora directors
that the key to success in a cinematographic project is stamina, passion and
most importantly faith. If financial considerations and strategic marketing and
distribution policies are all essential parameters that need to be considered in
the long run for every movie that makes it to the theaters, what counts most is
the emotional and human investment that makes the experience worthwhile for all
involved in its making. The story behind the making of The Keeper,
from the artwork on the sets and costumes and the challenges faced by the crew
in directing it are now available on the DVD release. This has been an
opportunity for me to interview the director and two of his crew members Sep
Riahi ( actor/ co-producer) and Michelle Milosh (Production
Designer) whose support and contribution were essential in this film
project.
L.A. Premiere of The
Keeper in Hollywood June 2005
(Left-Right) writer
Rezwan Razani, author, Michelle Milosh
and Sep Riahi
©Sylvie
Kadivar
Darius KADIVAR ( DK):
It took six years to get to this final stage, the DVD release of The Keeper:
The Legend of Omar Khayyam, which is superbly and very professionally
designed. It should be a relief to see it completed?
Kayvan Mashayekh (KM): Yes, it was a true labor of love that
took seven grueling years of my life to complete, but I am very grateful to the
hundreds of individuals who toiled and sacrificed towards its eventual
completion.
DK: What was the
greatest challenge in the making this movie?
KM: The greatest challenge I faced was the
initial negativity towards glorifying a Middle Eastern character on film in the
post 9/11 era. However, I believed
all along in its long term prospects of educating the masses about the
importance of cultural preservation and bringing positive imagery to an area of
the world that desperately needs to have its intellectual heroes
championed.
DK: How many people
have seen the movie to date?
KM: I really don’t know but
estimating from our theatrical run and DVD launch so far, it is well over
100,000 people.
DK: What has been the
reaction of non Iranians to your film?
KM: Non-Iranians were very enthusiastic
about the film because it was perceived by a majority of them as a wonderful
antidote to the daily images they receive in the media portraying
Iran and the rest of the region as
evil and full of hate.
DK: Michelle tell us a
little about your work as Production Designer on this film, What does that
consist of on a movie of this scale?
Michelle Milosh
(MM): Early in pre-production I
worked out color palettes for each
Character, and
palettes for the sets. Preplanning , designing sets, creating
models
was so important
because we had limited time. The sets really act as another
Layer revealing a character’s persona. Even in our
present day sets little things
Go into the sets to
help tell the story. The Art Director ,Giovanni Natalucci and
Set
Decorator , Lou
Trabbie were a very important part
of the Art
Department team
In putting the total
look of the film together.
DK: What were your
inspirations and research based upon in creating the sets and costumes?
MM: Research on 11thC Persian arts from both
books and museums. Museums especially because you are actually looking at real
pieces of history from that
Time period. The
collections at LACMA, The Met in NY, The British Museum ,
The V & A in
London , and The
Louvre…every time I would see a fragment of
Fabric, or a piece of
pottery with painted figures & horses , I would think , oh here is
A tiny piece of the
puzzle, this is what life looked like at that time. A particular
Fabric fragment from the V & A , became the
inspiration for Malikshah’s Lion
Symbol, I had fabric
embroidered in Uzbekistan for flags, the interior
tent and banquet scenes…the fabric they made was so beautiful I couldn’t resist
designing
a gown around it for
the Persian Golden Lioness Awards®!
Jane Robinson was our
talented costume designer who also researched the time
Period and won the
award for costumes.
Costume
Epic © Guide Company Films
DK: Sep you were both
co-producer and actor in Kayvan’s film. This must have given you a unique
perspective. Is it difficult to combine both?
Sep Riahi (SP): Acting
and producing in a film definitely provides the
producer with unique, "on-the
ground" perspective by gaining insights to the actors' challenges and
tasks. I'm personally not an
experienced actor but fortunately in this case, I could rely on Kayvan's
fantastic directing skills.
DK: You all worked in
difficult conditions for a first movie, amongst others that your subject was not
that welcomed by investors in a post September 11Th Hollywood. What
gave you the stamina to continue?
(KM), (MM),(SR): Simply stated, it was love. Our stamina came from our collective
belief in the project along with a “never say die” attitude in the face of
unimaginable obstacles, namely shooting the film in two stages with a war going
on 200 miles south of Uzbekistan (in Afghanistan) where we were filming. Fortunately, my core team of colleagues
stuck with me through the darkest moments of the production and I am very
fortunate to be sitting here today reflecting on it. We all believed in its message so
much. Thankfully our audience has
been most appreciative of our efforts. (KM)
Author and Kayvan Mashayekh at Hollywood Premiere of
The Keeper
(June 2005) ©Sylvie Kadivar
DK: You have done a great work
in post-production on this film and particularly the use of sound that greatly
enhances some key scenes. An aspect often neglected by first time directors.
What are the different phases in post-production once the film is wrapped up?
KM: Naturally, the first stage is
editing. Once that is completed and
you have a rough first cut, you employ a music supervisor (if you haven’t
already done so) and/or composer to start looking for the mood you want to
create with the picture you have just cut.
After that is done, you hire first rate music editors and supervising
sound editors to do the final mix before putting the picture all together. In between all the technical aspects of
post production, it is wise to hire a post production supervisor or producer to
handle the technical delivery requirements necessary for the picture’s eventual
sale to domestic and international distributors.
Furthermore, an
often overlooked aspect of post-production is test screening the film throughout
the editing process to unbiased and random moviegoers to see what parts are
working and what parts are not connecting.
This critical piece of data is the difference between life and death
theatrically. Utilizing the
information properly to serve your audience is the key to a successful marketing
campaign when the film is released in movie
theaters.
DK: Kayvan what did
you learn through this film experience, both personally and technically? What would you do or not do if you were
to shoot this film again?
KM: The most important lesson was to
surround yourself with people that not only care about the project, but care
about you. I always tell my friends
that God gave me two ears and one mouth…there is a reason for that. Technically, it is very important that
you think of the film as a product that needs to find its audience and how much
will it cost to get that audience depends on how well you have done your
homework in advance through marketing and advertising. In a perfect world, if I was to shoot
this film again, I would like to have been blessed to have a “Hollywood” budget for marketing and advertising. An additional $20Million would have made
me very competitive against studio produced films.
DK: What will your next film be
about?
KM: Cyrus (The Great) is one of five projects I am kicking
around, but as in everything in life, it’s all about the money. Whichever one of my scripts is funded
first, that is the one I will be doing next.
DK: You intend to shoot it in
Turkey, why not
Iran?
KM: When the time comes, I do intend to
shoot the film in Turkey due to its favorable locations
and non-governmental intervention.
DK: The Keeper won two Persian
Golden Lioness Awards®, that held it’s 2nd Annual this year in
Budapest, for best direction and best costume design. It was also an occasion
for Iranian Diaspora Artists to get together and share their professional
experiences. What is your opinion on this cultural initiative?
KM: I am very
proud of the Awards and hope to contribute to its success by recognizing future
recipients with their outstanding talents.
DK: What should be done to help
bridge the Diaspora Cinema and Iranian Cinema today?
KM: Capital. The more money we spend promoting the
Diaspora Cinema, the greater the nexus will become in uniting people of
different cultures with our own.
I’m very proud to be in the forefront of these efforts and hope to
encourage capable entities and individuals to promote our culture through
capital investment. I am reminded
by President Kennedy’s inaugural speech, and if I may borrow from its message
for our people today it would say,
“Ask not what your
culture can do for you, ask what YOU can do for your
culture.!”
DK: Thank you all for sharing
your thoughts on the occasion of your DVD release. Look forward to your next
movie.
DVD package of the Keeper ©Guide Company
Films
Author’s notes:
Recommended
Reading: My first interview with director Kayvan
Mashayekh for payvand in 2005.
Recommended Reading: Khayyam
Mania!!!: Hollywood's depiction of the great Persian Poet's life
by
Darius KADIVAR (2003).
About the Author: Darius KADIVAR is a Freelance
Journalist, Film Historian and Media Consultant. He lives and works in
France.
