07/07/2023 - The German-Iranian director breaks down the masculine world of fishing, the prospects for the young generation of Iranians and his relationship with the sea

(© Laura Nickel)

Empty Nets [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Behrooz Karamizade
film profile] by Behrooz Karamizade is a touching love story and a portrait of the young generation in Iran. The German-Iranian co-production celebrated its world premiere in Karlovy Vary’s international competition. We spoke to the director about the masculine world of fishing, the prospects for the young generation of Iranians and his relationship with the sea.

Cineuropa: Why did you choose the milieu of fishing as a setting?
Behrooz Karamizade: I love the sea; I am emotionally connected to it. During one of my trips to Iran, I went to several fishing villages and was fascinated by the way they fish there. I was also impressed by the way these men live together, how they interact with each other, how they depend on each other while living away from their families for several months at a time. I wanted to portray this male-dominated world in more detail and wondered what the presence of this strong masculinity could do. What does it do to love? What does it do to beauty? What does it do to nature? I think it does a lot of damage to our lives. That's why I took a young, naive person as my protagonist and brought him into this world, and I wanted to see what happens to him.

At the same time, I wanted to create a parallel with nature: as our values are destroyed, nature is also destroyed. We are willing to destroy anything for profit. But it was also important for me to show that people themselves often have no other way out. This is the case for those I portrayed in the film. Unemployment and the economic situation are so catastrophic that they are forced into this situation.

You talk about illegal fishing. How did you gather insights into this?
Over time, I built up trust with people I lived with for a while, and got insights that way. They were quite open: they talked about it, even though there are very harsh penalties for illegal fishing and they risk their lives doing it. Authenticity was very important to me, so I shot with real fishermen and poachers, who were assisted by some professional actors.

At what point did you know that you had found the right actor for the protagonist, Amir?
We did a big casting in Iran and saw a lot of young actors. Each one had his own specific skills that would have suited the role. But what was crucial with Hamid Reza Abbasi was that it was his first big film. He was not yet fully formed as an actor. He didn't always do the same routines; he was very pure. I wanted to use his naïveté for the film.

What were the most important elements of Amir's character? How much were you inspired by real people?
I saw a lot of characters like Amir in my research. For example, I met a young man who was 13 years old and who had to take the place of his ailing father and survive in this tough man's world. I saw how he changed. This also confirmed my decision to focus on the portrayal of the young generation in Iran.

You use an individual's journey and a love story to portray the wider society in which he lives. What did you intend to say about modern-day Iran through the film?
I wanted to talk about young people, about a generation that lives in Iran today and has no horizons because of the economic situation. Many leave the country for various reasons. On one hand, of course, it's the economic situation, but on the other hand, it's also the lack of prospects and the strictness of society. What is one allowed to do, and what is one not allowed to do? This leads to a certain depressive mood. Young people have the feeling they cannot breathe; I have always felt that. Also, they feel a longing for many things, and I wanted to show that without moralising. To achieve that, I decided to have three main characters, each with a different path and embodying different qualities. Amir is the worker, the one who struggles; Narges comes from a wealthy family that is entrenched in traditions, rules and social constraints; and Omid is more of a dreamer, an intellectual. What does this world do to these three people? Something different happens to each of them. I wanted to let young Iranian people have their say and show the world that there are other sides to Iran, too.

How consciously did the sounds of the sea inspire you artistically?
The sea is actually the fourth-most-important character in the film. It is a symbol of destiny. Sometimes it is our friend, sometimes our enemy. It has different faces that I wanted to show, and to achieve that, we worked with the sounds and the weather.