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Iranian Director Ali Asgari on Travel Ban Doc ‘Higher Than Acidic Clouds’ and Rejecting ‘Victimization’: ‘Why Don’t You Just Let Me Make Films?’
Iranian director Ali Asgari speaks about filmmaking as activism and how his travel ban after Cannes inspired new doc 'Higher Than Acidic Clouds.'
After premiering “Terrestrial Verses” at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023, Iranian director Ali Asgari returned home to Tehran to find out he was banned from traveling for eight months, as well as having his personal belongings confiscated by the government authorities for weeks. The autobiographical essay — shot in Tehran in nine days — zooms in on Asgari as he grapples with long-buried memories reignited by an enforced period of disconnection from the world, reflecting on his time living in Italy and embarking on frank conversations with his family. Asgari’s frustration is echoed by producer Milad Khosravi of Seven Springs Pictures, who says that the competitiveness of funds and grants in Europe leads their national cinema “towards a direction that the only possible way is to reduce quality.”
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