iFilm exclusive report on movie 'Harir'

Check out iFilm exclusive report on the movie ‘Harir’ directed by Feryal Behzad, produced by Gholamreza Azadi and starring Jaclyn Avare.

Below is a transcription of the report's highlights.

iFilm: The cinema industry in Iran covers a variety of movies, including commercial and non-commercial, mostly in the social genre. However, there aren’t many movies about the physical and mental health issues. But ‘Harir’ has recently hit the silver screen and it is about obesity.

Jaclyn Avare was chosen to star in this movie because of her physique.

Behzad: I picked Jaclyn Avare because she was a theater actress who starred in really good plays and received a number of awards.

Although she wasn’t famous, she was the one I was looking after.

I didn’t want to ask an actress to gain weight or make her look heavy with special effects and costumes or ask her to behave like heavy people. I wanted a heavy actress to be herself, not act.

iFilm: The subject of this movie has been the concern of the film’s actress.

Avare: Yes. It was my constant concern. As you mentioned, people like me, heavy people, are usually cast to star in comedies in the cinema industry of Iran.

I am a comedian and I like my job a great deal, but it mattered to me that in this film they haven’t looked at obesity from a comic perspective.

For me, that was one of the most interesting parts about this screenplay. It didn’t question the character; she wasn’t supposed to be laughed at or to be a marginal character. She’s the lead actress who has a serious role and is very popular and successful.

iFilm: Feryal Behzad, the director of this movie, has been working on this movie for years and she is aware of the subject of this movie to the extent that many believe that this was her own concern in the past as well.

Behzad: I, as a filmmaker, wanted to make a film about an issue that has not been discussed so far in films.

There were many people around me who suffered from obesity. I was a witness to their suffering, tears and sorrow.

For example in their daily lives, I would witness how they are harassed and offended by people in the streets or by their colleagues from the moment they step out of the house to go to work. I have seen how their hearts are broken. At times, I’d see them come back home crying.

iFilm: Obesity can be discussed in different perspectives, but Feryal Behzad chose to look at it from its social aspect.

Behzad: I tried to look at this issue from a social, psychological and sociological perspective. I never intended to mock this person because her problem is a serious one.

She faces this problem from the very moment she steps out until she gets back home. She even has this problem at home with her family members. Her mother always looks down on her and wants to control her in every aspect.

Azadi: The things I face in society make me think about this issue. Our family has never dealt with such an issue. But when I see the reaction of people, it grabs my attention, too. I think that with all these problems, no one bothers to think about issues like obesity.

No one makes movies about these issues. So I choose to showcase a small part of these problems. That’s the way I work.

iFilm: The director, Feryal Behzad, chose the name Harir for the lead actress and the title of the movie as well.

AI/AG