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The film is finished and the war lingers.

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This has been the longest gap in the relatively routine flow of posts in this blog. The war turned everything upside down. Even  though I witnessed the explosions and destruction of my home town , from a distance and through the drips of videos captured by Tehranians who stayed, there is no doubt that the period of so called 12 days war, have reshaped us all, inside and outside the country. After such a period,there comes a time of re assessing, re evaluation and re defining. Everything finds new meaning and this affects all aspects of life. It is not only one's relationship to her country,  her homeland but also human relationships, friendships , reflecting on how true or untrue they are, family, motherhood, basic moral grounds like belief in peace and humanity  can easily be shaken by  the violence of war. The polarities become even more extreme and it is even harder to defend one's belief in human values. Closest people become far apart, distant people become cl...
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So where you been for so long?

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  So much has happened since August, internally and externally. I went to Iran to visit my dad and in the short visit; I  managed to meet the great Left Bank collective in Tehran and had the most amazing day of showing films and running a super 8 workshop. It is beyond my words to explain the feeling of meeting the inspiring and talented young filmmakers. The fresh blood for the future, the youth of the nation.I am hoping to work on the material we shot and see where we can take it. I screened Essy’s film in a small Cafe, The house of Theory in the vibrant neighbourhood of Iran Shahr. Essy lays his small stall along with other mostly young traders close to this café. It was great to bring him, his friends of his generation, passer byes and regulars of the café, some old and new friends  together to watch his story. Essy had difficult life in recent years but he is still  strong and always full of joyous ideas for life. There is so much to carry emotionally .The...
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The Commonplace Unravelled: The Films of Tara Najd Ahmadi

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  The Commonplace Unravelled: The Films of Tara Najd Ahmadi A wooden drawing figure is gently positioned in pots, pans and jars to go through the process of making a simple Iranian dish of egg, rice and pickles. We view his level of resistance scientifically illustrated in diagrams appearing after each process. We are witnessing a simple domestic act while a wooden human figure goes through various forms of pressure and oppression. The traces of paint over the analogue frames remind us of the hand crafted nature of the film itself. This is a domestic film with a twist. Tara Najd Ahmadi sets the tone for her future work with this earlier 4 minute short film, Measuring the Levels of Resistance. She is an artist filmmaker whose work creates a sense of intimate closeness. At the same time she raises alertness towards what lies beneath the layers of daily life. There is a subtle humour, a deliberate lightness of touch in how film after film she delves deeper into conditions in which ...
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Slow and steady editing "Walnut of Knowledge"

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  I am doing my day job and trying to edit Walnut of Knowledge.I have amazing material with the help the great team I was lucky to work with and loads of personal and family archive along with lots of sounds and conversations I have colleted like a magpie. Editting is like knitting and some times like surgery.It is about layers of information and how to gradually inject them in to the main base line of the film. It takes time to find the connections and injection points but when you find them and they seem to work, it is the greatest pleasure.  
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We in a War again.

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 On Friday 13'th of June, Isreal started a full on invasion of Iran.We are officially in War.Walnut of Knowledge is now in post production stage.I don't have much to add.I am still greiving and digesting what is happening to my home town, country and people.
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