“In a world that is struggling with the daily displacement of many refugees that end up in an unfamiliar environment in hopes of building a new life, most media suggest that the immigrants think differently, possess values distinct from others, and consequently, may pose a threat to societies. We intend for this film to show people otherwise, to make them think of refugees as equals, and not as others.”
–Raha Amirfazli and Alireza Ghasemi
After watching Ava DuVernay’s “Origin,” based on the book Caste by Isabel Wilkerson, you become very aware of the problems of dehumanization that exist in our world. When I spoke with Raha Amirfazli and Alireza Ghasemi about their feature “In the Land of Brothers,” they used the word “othered,” or “otherness.” I do love how a film from Iran can connect to the universal problems in our social climate we all share. These types of films will lead to discussion, and hopefully solutions so that we may evolve as a species.
In their film, “In the Land of Brothers,” we follow three members of an Afghan refugee family in Iran over a thirty-year period, starting with Mohammad, a young teenager who is a promising student; Leila, a woman who is separated from her family when she is married and works for a wealthy Iranian family; and Qasem, who must shield his family from some traumatic truths.
I was so honored to speak with the Iranian co-directors of the film who started their collaboration in undergrad, and then went on to co-direct a short film together, “Solar Eclipse.” This film will be their feature debut together. It opens at Sundance on Monday, January 22nd, at the Prospector Square Theatre. Learn more about this film.
Our Sundance 2024 coverage is sponsored by the Gene Siskel Film Center. One of the last arthouse theaters in Chicago, they present a curated collection of international, independent, and classic cinema reflective of Chicago’s diverse community. Learn more.
What does the title “In the Land of Brothers” mean?
Raha Amirfazli (RA): “In the Land of Brothers” are the words that the Afghans used when they started to immigrate to Iran after the war. They use to refer to Iran as the land of their brothers, as the home of their brothers, like some place where the people have the same culture, speak the same language, and have a similar story to each other. And they were being received by a very warm welcome in the beginning, so that is a reflection of the hospitable country that it used to be. So that’s used in an ironic way.
What brought you together for this project?
RA: Ali and I were studying our undergrad at the same university, and we started working on each other’s films. He was three years ahead of me, so I started working on his films as an AD, and in costumes. After that, we worked on each others sets in different positions, and then we decided to make a short film together, “Solar Eclipse.” Through that experience, we understood then that we really worked well together. We write really well, we direct really well, and we help each other elevate our different styles. Then we decided to make a feature, and it worked out pretty well for us.
Why was this project particularly personal to you?
RA: Well, it goes back into my childhood. I had a friend when I was nine-years-old when I went to this new school. She welcomed me when we changed schools and she was my only friend at the new school. We bonded really well. She was Afghan. After a while, I noticed she was not picking up her phone, and then I realized she had been deported back to Afghanistan.
As an Iranian, having those types of stories, and seeing their lives being treated this way, you realize this isn’t as uncommon as you think. After deciding we, as artists, want to immigrate ourselves to have a better life somewhere else, the concept of immigration became very real to us. So then we started to collect all of these memories that we have of the immigrants in our own country, and we needed to make a film about that.
Alireza Ghasemi (AG): First of all, my father was a resource to me. He was a doctor, and a lot of his patients are from the Afghan community. They always had problems with their IDs, and of course the banking system, and the insurance. There are some bureaucratic problems that should not be there, but it’s there because it’s neglected in the system. It was the first time that I noticed something that was not working properly in the government.
When I was in high school, I decided to direct the play The Hairy Ape by Eugene O’Neill. The play is also about the social class as a problem. As a director, I cast all Afghan refugees. It was very beautiful and they were really passionate. We worked for six months and then I noticed that all of them, at least most of them, all wanted to go back to Afghanistan because of their families’ situation there, or they wanted to emigrate to Europe. We never performed the play. That was the first powerful connection. I read a lot, and I listened a lot about their stories. And I just started to think, something is not working.
Can you talk about the structure of the film, and working with your editor Hayedeh Safiyari?
RA: So the structure came about in the development process when we developed a lot of the script. I first started to write first Leila’s (Hamideh Jafari) story, and after we finished, we understood that this was not sufficient to the degree that we want to tell the stories of the Afghan refugees in Iran. And then the two other stories were developed. We actually have even more stories, but we couldn’t include them because the running time would be a lot. So the structure came about in the script stage and Hayedeh was with us from the beginning of the development stage. She used to read every draft that we would send her. She would send us notes, because she is a wonderful editor. She is wonderful to work with, she has such a mind and an eye for films that it was very good to have her in the development stage. We worked through many, many drafts with her until we came into the editing room and we started the cutting.
AG: The story with Hayedeh is very interesting. She is a long-time collaborator of Asghar Farhadi’s films, and she was in the last stage of “A Hero,” the last Asghar Farhadi film. They were editing the film together. That was the time when we sent the first draft of the script to her, and although she was very busy with Fahardi’s film, I remember she bought a pack of cookies, came to our office, and told us, “I really love this one. I would like to be a part of the team.” So she was even involved with the first draft, and she came in with some very interesting ideas. She helped us a lot from the beginning to the very end of the film. It was a very good collaboration with her.
Can you talk about your actors, and working with them on these particular stories? They all seemed so natural in their performances, and the emotional range they carried was so impressive.
RA: So we got very lucky that we got connected to a person who had a very small theater to teach acting to the Hazara community for those who were interested in becoming actors. We had a very lengthy audition period, it went on for six or seven months. And we just saw everyone from the theater. We had a wonderful casting director, his name is Mohammad Anwar, and is Hazaran himself. He was very well connected to the Hazara artist community, so he made introductions for us.
The actors we chose for the main three roles had the same life experience to the characters. I think that is what helped them with the range of emotions that you were mentioning, and in their powerful performances.
AG: I think it was like a snowball effect. Because the casting director introduced us to some people in that small theater because they had this routine of gathering every Friday to read books or to play things. And it held different classes for the refugees. We met some people there and then they came for auditions. And every time, they came with new stories about their lives and how they feel about this story that we want to tell. At the end of the audition, almost all of them told us that they had this nephew or sister or this brother who wanted to be an actor, and they’d ask, “do you mind if you have another audition with him or her?” It was a very interesting process because they were super fresh and super passionate, and I think really personally related to this story that we wanted to tell.
Some of them even reshaped our script writing process. One example would be in the third chapter, the story of Qasem. Bashir Nikzad, who plays Qasem, is a martial artist. So when we talked, to each other we decided to change part of the stories to be closer to their real life. I think that’s the reason it looks very natural.
I love how authentic stories can connect universally. Can you talk about your collaboration with your productions companies from France and the Netherlands for this film?
RA: I think it’s a privilege that we had the opportunity to work with many different countries on this project. We had previously worked with our French producer, Adrien Barrouillet, on “Solar Eclipse,” the short film we had worked on together. And since that collaboration went really well, we shared with him the script for “In the Land of Brothers,” and he said, “I’m in,” and so we worked together again on this project. Adrien brought in the producer from the Netherlands, Frank Hoeve.
I thinking having an eye on the script, and on the creative stuff,with an eye outside of our culture, and our knowledge about the situation in Iran, is very, very helpful. Because it brings in a fresh perspective that maybe Ali and I couldn’t think of. Having producers that are creative enough to give you that type of feedback is also a privilege that we had. So they were there from the beginning of development. We used to get them the drafts, and get them their feedback, and it helped very well.
Also, making independent films in Iran is not an easy job. Because if you pick up the government money, you make the films that’s our propaganda basically, or you are wealthy enough to finance it yourself. To have two different countries as co-producers who can bring the money in to the finish the film is actually very helpful.
AG: Yeah, I think it was very helpful. I mean it’s not all about money. As Raha says, it’s also about trust and creativity to the project. Especially with Adrien, I met him first in Germany at the film school where I used to study. I made two short films there, and then we did “Solar Eclipse” with Adrien also. And I think during this process, we started to develop trust. It’s like a pact with you, and they bring their ideas and they feel comfortable to bring their ideas. Because sometimes people don’t feel comfortable enough to say things about the script. And I think with Adrien, it was very interesting because he also has a sharp eye and helps us with the development process, and rewriting. Also, Frank Hoeve and other producers helped us a lot. It was sometimes hard because having different countries involved forces you to be in different countries to do part of the film. It’s an obligation to do part of the film in those countries. It was very challenging at the end, but it was very helpful, because it brings diversity of different thoughts on the film’s thinking space.
What do you hope people see in your film?
RA: The thing that I feel will touch everybody about the film is that every audience member has felt the feeling of being othered at some place in their life. It doesn’t relate to anyone’s country, or social status, or anything. Everyone has the experience in time of feeling like an “other.”
I hope they connect to that feeling and see that the extremity of that situation might differ from person to person depending on the situation of the people, and be more compassionate during their daily interactions and to the people around them, especially with the immigrant communities.
AG: Yeah, I think the “otherness,” the concept of “otherness,” I think it’s a very hot topic at the moment. You’re following news about what happened in the Netherlands and maybe could happen in the US, or there is a danger of riots being in Germany and France. And in Iran, it’s a very hot topic at the moment. I think people started to see each other as less human. It brings a lot of violence, and it’s useless. I think maybe, and I hope this film helps people to discuss that first, this problem exists, because some people even deny that this even exists. I hope the discussion will help people to come together and try to talk about a solution to this problem.
The film community that has been built and continues to grow through Cinema Femme is how we thrive. Our local community continues to grow, especially now courtesy of our involvement with Camera Ambassador and our collaboration that has produced the print publication, THE CALL SHEET. Our world-wide community grows through our readership and our short film fest. We are so happy to have Independent Film Alliance Chicago as a fiscal sponsor for our festival, but our year-round magazine needs your support. Please consider donating to support us as we give you extensive festival coverage over the next few weeks. We appreciate you and your support!
