Dad Introduced Me to World Cinema at the Age of 9 – Director Maryam Bahrololumi
Director of the Iranian movie, URGENT CUT OFF ‘Ms. Maryam Bahrololumi’ shares her filmmaking travel with Ms. Divya Jay of Team CIFF and tells how she was introduced to world cinema by her father when she was just 9 years old! And how starting off so young helped her gain so much confidence in making 3 amazing feature films!!
I was interested in cinema since the days I had gone to behind-the-scene of movies those my father had played in for the first time. That time I was 9 years old and after many years I started work on the sets at 16 in Iranian TV-Cinema as an assistant director. In 2018, I made my first feature film, PATIO. I worked as a writer, planning manager and assistant director for a long time. I really believe that life is too short so you have to live in the moment and enjoy your life.
I love Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese. The recent movies I love are Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Wolf of Wall Street, Capernaum and Winter Sleep. Movies on social issues are my most liked!
The Writer and Director can be 2 different people in a movie, but it also depends on how they cooperate with each other.
Definitely related education can be of great use to a filmmaker. I’m a graduate in the major of cinema from Istanbul University. Any filmmaker needs to upgrade themselves by seeing different movies, so I have been spending much time to do that. In short film you don’t have much time to show all details. On the contrary in feature films, you have to make your endeavour to show all details and best consequences.
If someone want to be a filmmaker more than anything they need creativity; family or friends support is not always necessary, but having such support does make things easy.
I had never intended to be another person, but I wouldn’t mind been Kubrick or Hitchcock!! I have seen a lot of Indian movies and so many great films have been made in India. Naturally there are similarities and differences between Indian and Iranian cinema, but the cultures of our countries are not too far from each other.
I’m so excited to take part in Chennai International Film Festival. Happy to have my 3rd feature film play at this esteemed festival. Hope I can bring more and more films to this festival with each passing year.
