By Jordan Elgrably

In the Dark: Director Alex Fazeli, actors Jamie Brown and Maz Jobrani (l-r)In this crashing economy we are all too aware of the changing market reality that inevitably affects both commercial and independent artists. It was already difficult for indie filmmakers in the Arab/Middle Eastern communities to get their features and documentaries in front of American moviegoers, much less in the video stores—  never mind finding financing in the first place. Every filmmaker longs for a distributor, and some even daydream of a theatrical release. Most will have to settle for sales to ancillary markets and cable, since savvy distributors aren’t taking long odds on films like those that make it into festivals such as the Noor Film Festival and the Arab Film Festival.

Despite the odds, Iranian American filmmakers as well as other Iranian filmmakers in diaspora have been persistent. Last weekend at the third annual Noor Film Festival, I was impressed with two shorts, “In the Dark” by Alex Fazeli, and “Help,” by Val Lauren (an Iranian Canadian who changed his name for show business), and the psychological thriller, “Otis E.,” which was produced Iranian American David Diaan, aka Fariborz Davoodian. Neither won an award in the festival, but Sabine El Gemayel took home the Best Feature Film Award for "Niloofar," a film I've championed since it premiered last year in the AFI fest. Her child actor star Mobina Aynehdar also won the Best Actress Award.

“In the Dark” featured actor and stand-up comedian Maz Jobrani playing a dark, serious role as the mysterious “Cronus,” a student revolutionary during the turbulent years of 1978-1979 who is wanted by interrogators, two of whom are played by Peter Shahriari and Max Amini. Apparently, the 35mm short was inspired by true events surrounding the role of the CIA in extracting a double agent during the Iranian Revolution.

Maz Jobrani has impressed me in the past with dramatic portrayals, notably in the Tony Kushner play “Homebody, Kabul” and the Sean Penn thriller “The Interpreter.” Here he easily goes back and forth from Farsi to English while the tension that many Iranians experienced during the Revolution is convincingly conveyed by the actor playing Maz’s father, Ali Dean.

Peter Shahriari: mugging for the camera (photo Jordan Elgrably)On a minor note, I really liked the make-up job they did on Maz to make him look like an aging businessman, leaving Tehran after a brief business trip; while the actual make-up job was intentionally amateurish to create more suspense—will they believe him and let him get on the plane out of the country?—you couldn’t help but think of all the roles that Iranians around the world would have to play during the U.S. hostage crisis and later, as they struggled to present themselves as Italians or some other innocuous nationality.

Peter Shahriari, the Los Angeles-based stand-up comedian and actor, was surprisingly effective as the featured interrogator. Full disclosure: I have produced Maz Jobrani, Peter Shahriari and Max Amini in numerous stand-up comedy shows over the years…which makes the experience of watching them on the big screen just a little more intimate.

Val Lauren’s “Help” was a veritable panegyric to his mother, nay, all mothers. Young Roman works several jobs to make ends meet and take care of his mother who at the age of 50 is cancer-stricken. She’s had to suffer the ignominies of chemo, and in one scene, the loving son busies himself with applying her make-up to prepare her for a photo op. But 50 is far too young to die, and Roman can’t deal with the fact that she may be enjoying her last days on earth. I felt “Help” was slowly paced, but its emotional power grew on me—particularly in the scene when Roman confronts a drug dealer he’s been stalking (great performance by Adam Beach), but not for the reasons we think.

The closing film of the Noor Film Festival was a dark crime drama featuring up and coming actor Kevin Durand in the role of “Otis E.,” a disturbed parolee who has never been an adult in a free society. Otis went to prison as a youth for murder (whether he killed his prostitute mother or her john, we’re never quite certain). He has learned the language of brutality all too well, which at the same time seems to hamper his ability to use the language of dialogue and reconciliation. In fact, Otis is laconic to the extreme. Kevin Durand turns in a powerful performance here, and David Diaan clearly enjoys himself in the campy role of Hamid, the itinerant rug dealer. While the film was written and directed by an American, Jeff Daniel Phillips, it was produced by two Iranians, Diaan and Roxana Rastegar, and American producer Susan Rogers.

Ultimately the film is about hope and redemption for convicts in the California prison system. Not to give away the ending of “Otis E.,” instead let me carp from the film’s official web site:

“California prisons are in crisis. Inmates are dying at an unusually high rate, rehabilitation programs are minimal, and a federal receiver has taken control of the prison health care system. Prisons are severely overcrowded – with 173,000 prisoners sleeping in gyms, dayrooms and classrooms – and state prison facilities will likely run out of space by this time next year. California has the highest recidivism rate in the country: 70 percent of prisoners are re-imprisoned within three years.”

—JE

Actors/TV personalities Farrah Assadi and Vida Ghaffari:
at the Third Annual Noor Film Festival (all photos Jordan Elgrably)


Ladan Yalzadeh:
won Best Short Film for "The Florist"


Festival judge Ali Pourtash

Roxana Rastegar: "Otis E." actor and co-producer

Director Sabine El Gemayel Wins Best Feature Award

Sheila Vossoughi, actor and awards presenter


Peter Shahriari with Jordan Elgrably
: just goes to show you never know who will show up at these festivals!

Jordan Elgrably and Ladan Yalzadeh