Writing today his usual fascinating column for the Folha of Sao Paulo newspaper, Ruy Castro observes “Cinema is not real life.”
He is referring to such films as’ Casablanca’ where Humphrey Bogart tells the police chief he has come to Casablanca for “the waters” and the chief replies “what waters we are in a desert¹”
But besides being an illusion in the desert of real life, cinema directed by an expert with imagination and an inside knowledge of current events can also portray better than the written word the reality of unknown far-off places.
Two excellent examples are the films I viewed Saturday at the 15th Festivaldorio (which goes runs locally until 15 October):” Goodbye Julia” (2023) from Sudan directed by Mohamed Kordofani and “The Iranian Chronicles” (2023) by Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami .
Both films participated in the recent Cannes Film festival in a sector entitle “Un Certain Regard “
The Sudanese reveals a nation which has suffered two coup détats in recent years, the last one in April,2023 overthrowing Islamist dictator Omar al-Bashir who had ruled Sudan for three decades.
The film is basically the story of a shooting of a Afro-Christian northerner (despised by Sudan Muslim southerners) and the attempts at repentance by the shooter´s wife with generosity and friendship towards the northerner´s widow and son.
The resolution –if one can call it that –of the film makes a viewer wonder if Sudan which continues to export over a million refugees to the rest of the world– will ever resolve its problems of a battle between Christians and Muslims, African descendants and non-Afros or a problem beyond the borders of Khartoum. ….
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Having recently conversed with a British journalist who has enthusiastically visited Teheran twice and recalling an exuberant touristic documentary on Brazilian TV by the late Gloria Maria on Iran, I attended “The Iranian Chronicles “with an interest in possibly visiting Teheran in the future.
The current war in Israel reportedly financed by Iran and scenes in this striking documentary have dashed my hopes of being a tourist in this fascinating exotic land.
For we see job, license bureau and school interviews where the questioner wishes to know why the applicant wears tattoos, didn’t cover her head and was having a good time with a supposed boyfriend or asks a job applicant about his religious commandments and rules when he applies for a simple job which has nothing to do with religion.
The opening scene with a young Iranian girl with earphones dancing in a clothes shop, forced to choose sartorial coverups she obviously despises is an attack on the liberties we in the West we take for granted.
Cinema, as these two poignant films demonstrate, can indeed be larger than real life¹