Nazanin Arandi in a still from her film "Gaze"
Nazanin Arandi makes video art that feels like the slow beauty of the subconscious: it's heavy and light all at once, both gorgeous and vaguely disturbing. We chatted with the artist over a few beers (Modelo Especials) about her occasional control freak tendencies, hidden meanings, and her films' upcoming screenings at the 2007 AFI Fest.
When were your films "From Here to Breath" and "Gaze" shot?
"From here..." was shot right after 9/11. "Gaze" was just shot this year.
Did the events of 9/11 influence "From Here..." or was it coincidence?
It's hard to tell now; it may be both. I was really effected by it, as a "Muslim" woman having to watch my back all of the sudden, even though I never considered myself Muslim by that point.
What was your family's religious background?
I was born in a religious town in Iran called Mashad, and I moved when I was 20. My family was simply Agnostic, but we could never admit to it in Iran. If you live in the Islamic Republic and you are born as a Muslim, you stay a Muslim and that's the end of that. I was always more spiritual than anything else.
Were you artistic growing up?
Yes, always. Painting, Persian calligraphy, architecture, sewing... My whole family is really artistic. I never thought about anything else really. At Cranbrook, [where Arandi earned her MFA] I studied 2d design, which was really just about being creative—making, critiquing, and loving art.
So when did you start working on film and video?
I got into video because of a mentor, Hasan Elahi, while I was studying my undergrad at University of South Florida. He saw how I was drawn in all these different directions trying to create environments, physical or psychological. And I was pretty good with making things, like sculptures and 3d structures, so he started pushing me to think in installations with movements and videos; then I fell in love—really, really in love. I never felt so good in my life. Video was a kind of fictional reality, like the stories that I always wrote, these fictional autobiographies—it was amazing.
Do the concepts for your films come from a narrative you're looking to tell, or does a visual image cause you to create a narrative?
Oh, it always comes from a story. I'm really private, so I code with a lot of metaphors and symbolism and hope it becomes universal. I guess I'm just a dishonest artist... so non-post-modern of me!
It's interesting that your films feature a veiled figure, and veiled visuals... Do you feel like you always had to hide your intentions?
Yes, you nailed it. It's like living two lives: one public, and one private. Society in Iran had a big part in this.
The black and white in your films creates such starkness and inborn conflict. What do you shoot on, and do you edit yourself?
I shoot on Mini DV, and the heavy grain is because of bad pixel quality that I mess with in [Adobe] After Effects. Slow mo is also done in After Effects. I do everything myself... control freak, I guess. (Laughs)
How do you feel when you finally complete a piece? Is it cathartic?
Exhausted, really exhausted. Like I just confessed to my parents that I am a horrible person. (Laughs)
I was just about to ask: what does your family think of your work?
They think I'm crazy; a good girl should stay private, and I guess I don't by making things and letting people watch them. But they are big supporters. They've seen my work before, but they don't know the stories and I like to keep it that way. It's like crossing a line that I don't want to cross with them. They are pretty proud though, even though they'll never admit to it. My brother says that I say things in my work that he would like to scream every day, but he can't.
In "From Here to Breath," an earlier work, you use a model who floats in water in dreamlike, extremely slow motion. In later work, you use yourself, but only in flashes. Was it harder to expose yourself in your films?
Not really. I don't think of her as me. Also, I am more open about desires, violence and hopes now. I've had to grow up and really love being a woman who makes mistakes.
How has growing up in a Muslim culture, then coming to Los Angeles—a sort of mecca for exploitation—changed the way you see yourself as a woman?
I still think women are really powerful, so Hollywood is one of my smaller worries. I don't even see L.A. in that way. I think of it as a great opportunity to be a woman who has earned respect by being strong. Rosa Parks exists in every woman. Cheesy but true. You stand up for what you believe in, and you can scream about it or whisper it.
Nazanin Arandi's films, "From Here to Breath" and "Gaze," are screening with the video art shorts in a public space at this year's AFI Fest at the ArcLight. If you've scored passes to the fest's impressive program, be sure to pop over and peep at the art shorts, too.
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