This Is Not a Film Page #2

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The reason l took

this screenplay is that...

Wait a moment.

Let me change my view.

l don't know if you remember

this screenplay or not.

This is the last film

that l was going to make.

l sent it for approval,

which unfortunately they didn't approve.

They told me to make

some changes to the screenplay...

and to mellow it down a little

and it might get permissin,

but still it didn't get the approval,

and l wasn't allowed to work.

Now l thought perhaps

l could read out the screenplay.

Now that l'm not allowed

to make the film

perhaps by reading and explaining,

l might create an image of it.

Perhaps the viewer will see

the film that wasn't made.

The film is about a girl

who has been admitted

to university in the field of arts.

But since she comes

from a traditional family,

her family does not let her...

... to study in that field.

Particularly after she passes...

the university entrance exam,

and her name is printed in newspapers.

Her father finds out

and the family makes restrictions for her.

- Do you want me to warm up your tea?

- No, thanks.

Then the parents leave on a trip

and lock the girl inside the house.

From now on, with all doors locked

the girl tries to find

some way out of the house.

lf she cannot get to Tehran

in time for registration,

she will be denied

the chance to go to university.

The film was supposed to take place

within the interior of the house

and l tried to do it

but l couldn't.

That's why l asked you

to come over and help me

in this location

to be able to tell the screenplay.

With the camera following me

rather than being placed on tripod,

l can tell the screenplay more easily.

So you are about to tell

your last screenplay that wasn't made?

Yes, but not in here.

lf l sit here and read

it will bore everyone.

But if we go to that area over there,

we can construct the conditions

to explain more easily.

Good.

So let's go over to the other side.

Very well. Cut.

Cut?

Go on. Cut.

You are not directing.

It's an offence.

You just read the screenplay.

So l'm not a director any more.

Ok. If you are going to describe,

then leave the rest to me.

Just tell us your screenplay

and l'll follow you.

l hope it works.

By the way,

acting and reading screenplay by me

are not going to be counted

as offence, are they?

l hope not.

No, they aren't.

So far it says...

from writing screenplays,

from leaving the country,

from having interviews.

Acting and reading screenplays

were not mentioned.

Thanks God.

l think this space here

should be enough for our story.

This location does not match

our main character, Maryam...

since she's from a lower class.

We can only recreate the location here

so we can get a feel of her situation...

Just a moment.

Let's imagine this rug is the girl's home.

We suppose the girl's entire, house

to be this area here

and l'll start from here...

and these lines that l draw...

are the walls of the girl's room.

This is her room.

Let's say this is her bed

and she's lying here.

There's a window here.

The opening shot will be of this window.

This shot will last about 6

and we'll only be seeing the alley.

Then the entrance to the room will be here.

Here's the entrance to the girl's room.

And here's the entrance to the house.

They enter through here.

The living room is here.

A few stairs and we enter...

the girl's room.

Take these to be the stairs.

Here's the alley.

Here's the house next-door.

The boy always stands here.

l'll tell of some events

that take place inside this house.

This is the location l found

on my trip to Isfahan.

The window had to be altered

to match my idea.

Here's the girl's room

and it's in a mess right now,

and we had to change the arrangements.

These are the stairs

that lead to the girl's room.

Here's the living room

that l talked about.

Here's the entrance to the house

that we're going to need.

ln my last five films,

events have always taken, place

out on the streets

and, due to limitations that exist

concerning the veil for actresses,

l have never shot inside homes.

Then l submitted a screenplay

titled ''Return'' to the Ministry,

but they didn't grant permissin

for making.

l pursued that for a couple of years.

''Return'' was about

the last day of the (lran-lraq) war,

based on a short story

by a writer who had himself spent

the whole duration of the war

in the war zone.

lran has finally accepted

the resolution to end the war.

And the soldiers are returning

to their hometowns.

Now there aren't enough vehicles

for them to return.

Eventually, some of the soldiers

lie on railroad tracks

and force a train to stop,

so they can get on.

lt is only after they get on the train

that we begin to see

the problems of war.

Well, after they didn't grant

permissin to make,

l started thinking what to do.

l sketched out other subjects,

and they all took place

in single locations.

Then l decided

to use the interior as location.

My next screenplay titled ''Sea'' took place

inside a holiday home by the sea.

There were only 3 or 4 characters,

so that it could be made

inside the home...

in case they didn't grant

permissin to make.

Unfortunately, that didn't work either.

My next film was being made together

with Mr. Rasoulof...

inside this house

and we had shot 30% of the film...

when all of a sudden

they stormed in and took us away...

with all the footage,

and the problems started.

Let's put that aside.

Opening shot.

Here's our frame...

showing the alley.

There's a boy standing at the far end.

An old woman turns into the alley

and walks up to the middle of the alley.

The boy comes to help her

with a heavy load she's carrying.

They pass underneath our frame

as we continue to see the alley

through a fixed shot.

We hear the door bell ring,

and after a moment the boy returns.

The old woman enters the house

comes up the stairs,

opens this door and enters the room.

She sees that the girl is sleeping.

We can tell all this from the sounds.

''Hi Granny.

Did you get me the mobile SIM card?''

Not in this tone, of course.

We should be able to tell

she's just woken up

and she's a little sleepy.

''Your father told me not to buy you one.

Did you tell him?''

''What do you think?

l shouldn't have?''

''Oh, granny!''

We hear the old woman...

''Get up, get up.''

The old woman whines

about her physical weakness,

and says that she's unable

to visit her every day.

And we learn that she's alone at home

no one other

than the old woman visits her

and that she is in fact

the girl's paternal grandmother.

The old woman gives the girl

her last words and talks of the boy

and says that he is a nice boy.

She says that

she thinks the boy might in fact

be the next-door girl's suitor.

Once again the old woman

gives the girl her last word,

and says that

she won't visit the girl for a week.

We hear her footsteps

as she goes back

the way she had come in.

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