Look at documentary films as historical objects
According to the Fars news agency, Farhad Varharam said after the film screening about the research process of the ethnographic documentary “Holy Wedding” that: In 1368 Nasrullah Kasraian, one of the well-known photographers, made a trip to this village, and this village and its ritual ceremonies became known through Kasraian’s photos. Iranians were introduced. Those photos were published in the book “Sarzmin Ma Iran” and the book “Kurdistan”.
He continued: Kasraian asked me to travel to the same place a year later. I remember we went on that trip in 1970 despite the heavy snow that was falling. Due to unfavorable weather conditions, we stayed there for nearly 30 days and did photography and work. After that, I went to Vienna and Alfred Yanata, who was the deputy director of the Museum of Anthropology in Vienna and spoke Persian, had seen a version of the film “Taraz” that I had made about the Kuch Bakhtiaris. He asked about my recent work and I told him the story of the region. He asked me to present my idea to him in the form of a film. We filmed this documentary in 1972, and its editing lasted until the end of 1974.
Documentary films as historical objects
Referring to the documentary crew, Varhram noted: Unfortunately, one of the cameramen of this film Zinde Yad Morteza Poursamadi died some time ago, and the announcer of the Zinde Yad film was Hoshang Azadivar.
Varharam said about the preservation and continuation of customs in the present time: Unfortunately, rituals and ceremonies have faded these days. The Pirshalyar ceremony, which is held in the middle of Bahman, has also suffered from the same problem. I follow the subjects I put in front of the camera. I made a film about the Bakhtiaris in 1366, in which I followed the nomadic community. Today, we see that many of these nomadic people live on the outskirts of cities.
He continued: “The ceremony you saw in the movie no longer exists in this form.” In this village, buildings and mountains have been demolished to build new houses. Also, the large influx of tourists and photographers has made the elders of the village no longer hold this ceremony.
Saying that I made a film after 30 years that is no longer similar to its former form in Oraman, Varhram noted: In the spring season, a ceremony was held in this region, during which the herdsmen would send off the first group that went to the farm, but Today, these two ancient ceremonies are combined with each other and no longer have their former form. This film is considered like a museum piece and can be used by researchers.
He said about his continuous presence in Oraman region: The interesting thing is that the residents think that I should be present in all religious ceremonies. The report of this film led to the construction of the Oraman road and the extension of electricity and telephone lines to this area. Oraman has 99 years, which includes various things.
Varharam continued: While making “Pirhai Oraman”, I came across three Pirshalyars that belonged to the Islamic period. They had their own religions before Islam. At the beginning of the film, in order not to narrate the narration from my own side, I attributed it to the custodian, that’s why the narrator’s voice is different, and from a certain point on, I become the owner of the narration. In my opinion, Pirshalyar is a legendary and mythical character.
The presence of “Holy Wedding” in specialized anthropological festivals
In response to the question of one of the audience about the low presence of women in ceremonies and rituals in the film, Varhram said: Women have no role in this ceremony except for baking bread. Basically, in many of our rituals, women do not play a prominent role.
Regarding the reason for not restoring this work, he said: I am the only director of the film and its owner is the Ministry of Science of Austria. Of course, I left a copy of the film at the disposal of Iran’s National Cinema to be part of its documents. “Holy Wedding” is an anthropological film and it has been seen many times and has participated in various specialized festivals in the field of anthropology in Germany, Holland, Canada, Norway, etc.
He added: “Holy Wedding” is an anthropological film and we do not have the right to introduce sound from elsewhere or use music in such works, and we should not analyze and use adjectives for people. The movie “Taraz” that I own is being remade and I am happy about that, but even if that doesn’t happen, the negative has a beauty that appeals to me. I should also mention that “Holy Wedding” was the last work written by Hoshang Azadivar.
The role of museums in making documentary films
In the following, Parveen Thagha Al-Islam said about the role of museums in making such films: When I was working as the director of the Golestan Palace Collection, a number of documentary films were made. The “House Album” of Golestan Palace is the second house album in the world after the British Museum.
He continued: In addition to encouraging people to visit museums, we have a duty to use our heritage and make it available to documentaries. In the Golestan Palace complex, the album house and document centers are among the centers that are very attractive for making documentary films.
He continued: Our museums such as the National Museum and Abgineh have the necessary potential to be noticed in different ways in such works. A museum is a place that should display its belongings to the public. At that time, we were trying to attract art students, especially students of cinema and painting, and ask them to produce works about this museum. I hope this trend will continue.
Artists make museums dynamic
This researcher stated: One of the important missions of museums is to make their belongings available to artists of various disciplines so that the works kept in these centers can be seen. Today, people are used to visiting museums, whereas in the past, this was not the case. Artists can bring dynamism, liveliness and introduction to museums.
Taqte al-Islam said about the reason for the longevity of the documentary about the people: In this regard, the directorial power of the creator of these works plays an important role. If the film is not made by a director with love, it will not last. One should look for the durability of a work for many years. It is possible to produce a lasting effect with the most basic filming equipment. The love that the director puts into making his film is more important than the technical issues.
He continued: In my opinion, in a documentary film, only the object, directing and editing techniques are not important, and the director’s love for the subject is important. Mr. Verhram’s films are full of such love. If the film is made only to sell or cheer, it will not have much impact. Sometimes the subject of the film becomes sacred for the filmmaker and this point is very important.
Arde Attarpour, one of the well-known documentary makers who attended the meeting, said about the necessity of making ethnographic documentaries: We can get information about the life and religion of people who live in every corner of the world from works like Farhad Varharam’s films. Unfortunately, I don’t know anyone else in Iran who makes ethnographic documentaries continuously. He has a prolific career that began in the late forties. In the past there was a university institution and that is where this generation grew up. There must have been a necessity that this organization was formed, but unfortunately it did not continue due to various reasons.
Then Mehdi Azadi, the sound operator of this documentary, also said: It was my first time to go to Kurdistan and Oraman region. Of course, later on, we collaborated with Mr. Jaheri Jahrami and Farhad Varharam in other documentaries in this area. There was no problem with the sound recording, but the sound of the film is not very good, which is probably because the German voice actors of the film did not know Farsi.
The “Documentary Nights of the Iranian Cinema Museum” program is held every Tuesday at 5:00 PM in Ferdous Hall in cooperation with the Association of Iranian Cinema Documentary Producers.
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