Iranian cinema owes him
“It has become a strange world, many of our greats in the field of art are remembered as one name and several works when they go underground, but I wish they were used when they were alive; “Like the ‘Other Tomamians’ to whom Iranian cinema owes.”
Theater News Base: These are the words of Hossein Zandbaf, a well-known editor of Iranian cinema; He has edited more than 70 feature films, many of which are enduring works of cinema. “From Karkheh to Rhine”, “Bus”, “Station”, “Mohajer”, “Savalan”, “Apartment No. 13”, “Two and a Half”, “Green Ash”, “Bibi Dowry”, “Travel” “The mast”, “The smell of Yusuf’s shirt”, “Psychic”, “Hiva”, “Horny”, “Mummy 3”, “Confectioner girl”, “Look at the sky sometimes”, “Red hat and headdress”, ” Bright Nights, “The Lizard,” “A Piece of Bread,” “Girls’ Dormitory,” “A Woman’s Foot is Always in the Middle,” “Heartbroken,” and “Zomhrir” are just some of the films Zandbaf has made. Over the years, he has been producing several films since the 1950s, including “Bright Nights” by Farzad Motman, “Abandoned Station” by Alireza Raisian, “Mummy 3” by Mohammad Reza Honarmand, “Psychic” and “Nights of Tehran” by Dariush Farhang.
He made or edited a significant portion of these films at a time when digital cinema was not yet booming, and everything was based on negatives, which naturally had many difficulties compared to today. In this regard, Zandbaf mentions an expert in cinema technical affairs who died last week in silence and ignorance, while he believes that Iranian cinema owed this person, “the others of Tumanian”.
Zandbaf says about his acquaintance and cooperation with other Tumanians: I was a student of the TV High School and when I was doing my internship, I worked in the TV laboratory editing unit. I think this date dates back to 1349 or 50 and I have known Mr. Tumanian since then. Of course, our cooperation started around 1976, when we were working on the film “Long and Long Journeys of Hami and Kami” written and directed by Khodabiamerz Nader Ebrahimi, and we signed a negative cut contract with Mr. Toumanian. From there, our relationship became very intimate.
He continues: I think Mr. Tumanian did not have a second in his work, because at that time he was negative and he was doing things that no one could do, for example, in “From Karkheh to Rhine” there was a monitor on the plane and this monitor had no picture. In order for this monitor to have an image, we proceeded to assemble “Mohajer” and Mr. Tumanian was able to do something in the negative that was almost impossible, and he threw those images on the plane monitor in the movie “From Karkheh to the Rhine”. Or, for example, in the movie “Abandoned Station”, in which Mr. Aladpoush was the cinematographer, in a scene where we wanted the car to cross the valley with the sunset, we did everything we could not film this plan as we wanted, but in the end we talked to Mr. Toumanian and while everyone They said it was not practical, he fixed everything in the laboratory. In the movie “Train” by Amir Ghavidel, we also had cases where the brakes of the train were cut somewhere and its speed increased. There I cut the plan 35 negative and gave it to Mr. Toumanian to print one frame in between or two frames in between so that we could speed up the train. This is very easy in today’s cinema, but it was very difficult then.
Zandbaf, recalling that the titration of the movie “Train” was also made by Tumanian, says: “I don’t think anyone had as much control over his work as he did.” It was very strange that he could do such things with a negative. Adam was very focused, perhaps because he played chess and his son is now a professor at the World Chess Federation. Mr. Toumanian was very sensitive about his work, and after working in the television laboratory, he came to the laboratory of Badie Studio, and since his presence, Badie Studio has flourished again, and we always take our films there. Tumanian was an exception in cinema and we no longer had anyone with his mastery and skill because working with negatives was very difficult and if only a particle of negatives was cut more or less, it would cause many problems, but when it was given to Mr. Tumanian They thought everyone was comfortable.
This cinema editor says: Many people are inspired by the love of work and profession, but for this love one must also invest, of course I do not mean material, but one should be like Farhad Koohkan and Mr. Toumanian really had such a personality; Even when he retired, he had devices at home and worked there, but since the cinema went digital and conditions changed, his work has not continued. Mr. Toumanian was an exceptional figure in the field of cinema laboratory, and many directors, such as Ebrahim Hatamikia and Alireza Reisian, know what he has done. After hearing the news of his death, I, along with a few other friends, tried to get at least one subtitle for him on TV, but unfortunately they do not know who we lost and in what position.
Pointing out that Iranian cinema owes this man, he adds: “When the young people of cinema see that these great people are supported, which of course does not mean material support but valuation, then they fall in love with this profession much more.” A few years ago, Mr. Anwar asked me, “What would you say to someone who wants to come up with an edit?” I told him jokingly and with a laugh, “I tell him you are leaving!” Because maybe he will see the life I spent for this profession, he will grieve and he will prefer to follow his life. Of course, these days I am busy compiling a series by Mojtaba Rai called “Jashn Sarborun”, but in any case, we have very big people in different fields of cinema who are no longer working.
Otaran Tumanian, who was honored at the Cinema House Festival in 1988, was born in Isfahan in 1958 and was one of the oldest and pioneering artists in the field of film laboratory affairs. کرد. Over the years, he gained experience and expertise in all the various affairs of the negative amputation laboratory, lighting department, trocage, sensitometry and etalonage. Train, crossing, chrysanthemums, love squadrons, from Karkheh to Rhine, fire in the harvest, seven stones, Lily is with me, star and diamond, apartment number 13, house on the water, familiar soil, wedding dinner, star cafe, meme like Mother, Enamel of the Silent City, Deportees, Shadow Doll, Boss, Birthplace, When We All Sleep, Doubt, 7.30 am, which are part of his 150 works, can be mentioned.