“Ali Abbasi – director that can be Guldbaggegalans king”
“COPENHAGEN. For over half a year ago, certainly less than a man in Sweden who he was. With nine nominations for ”Limit”, Ali Abbasi, 38, now has a great chance to become Guldbaggegalans king.”
“– It goes fast up, it can go fast down. You can’t expect prizes, but I will be pissed if not Eva Melander wins skådespelarpriset, what she’s done is magic, ” he says.”
“When the Swedish Film institute on 12 april last year, invited the media to meet with the director of the film who would represent Sweden at the Cannes festival, we were many who said: Ali who?”
“Ali Abbasis Danish debut feature, the twisted horror film ”Shelley” (in 2016), he had not done so a lot of noise and did not premiere in Sweden. The recording of ”Limit” around the town of Sätila a bit outside of Gothenburg, and in Sweden in the Stockholm archipelago, had also not received any major attention.”
” Neither I nor the producers thought that it would be a succéhistoria in Sweden. Think the SFI (Swedish Filmsinstitutet) rather the thought: We should support a weird movie, and hope for the best, ” says Ali, when we meet on a filmbolagskontor in Nyhavn in Copenhagen.”
“– There goes the boss, ” he says, pointing through the glass wall on Meta Louise Foldager Sørensen, one of many producers to ”Limit”. It is also she who attracted the return of Bjorn Runge to the film, the script for ”The wife”. A movie that Glenn Close has now become oscar nominated for. And that had a decisive impact on that we are sitting here talking.”
“‘ Limit” was a success in Cannes festival sidosektion the Un Certain Regard section where it won the first prize. Ali Abbasi had left the French riviera, but Eva Melander, who is doing the lead role, received the prize of the hollywood star Benicio Del Toro.nFilmen have been a reasonable act of faith in Sweden, and became our Oscarsbidrag. When it was not one of the nine films on a ”shortlist” for best foreign film, thought many in the industry in the U.S. it was a surprise.”
“Donald Trump’s ”travel ban” against people from certain muslim countries, meant that the Ali Abbasi (iranian passport, could not travel to the US just as easily as the other and market their film.”
“do you Think Oscarschansen disappeared with it?n– Who knows? But it meant that I skipped over some stuff. It was too difficult to get a visa, I could not go through the process, it took a month each time. The two times I was in the US, I was very nicely received. But it was the sick of it as well was a campaign every time, with letters from the film company, senators and kongressfolk for that I would have to come into the united states.”
“Ali Abbasi mostly grew up in Tehran, Iran’s capital. Father is doctor, mother was a nurse. He describes the family as ”upper middle class”.nHan was born just after the islamic revolution of 1979 and when the war between Iran and Iraq (1980-1988) had just started.n– Our generation in Iran is called ”krigsgenerationen”. My entire childhood was a war. In third grade, it was for many iraqi air strikes for that I would be able to go to school. We cannot have the teaching of bombkällaren, said the teachers. It sounds strange, but then I thought it was good with the war. I saw none and knew of no one who was injured. So I sat at home and watched cartoons.”
“Although he describes his parents as ”a bit leftist”, so led to the family not so much by the islamic revolution. Ali believes that there is an overly negative image of life in Iran. He would have been able to stay there and had a good life and thought first to do it, and started studying for engineer. But he interrupted his studies.n– I did not leave Iran because there was so much that was wrong for me, as I was curious about what was outside. I had the luxury of being able to think so. It is also why it is sometimes difficult to hold a conversation with people who see me as an immigrant, I see myself as a foreigner. I have no desire or need to integrate me. I am looking to see the world. Where I think it is the best for me, where to move to I me.nHan first came to Umeå, there were some relatives in Sweden, and Ali quickly learned English.”
” I passed the test the type a year before I would have done it. Why do all the iranians who have come here in such a hurry? wondered part. A palestinian friend usually jokingly call me ”a white man in the dark pack”.”
“Ali moved to Stockholm to study to become an architect.n– I had written and got a few short stories published at home in Iran, I was not sure I just wanted to be arktitekt, but saw it more as the formation, to learn a visual alphabet.nDå woke up filmintresset to life properly.n– So saw my life in two years: Woke up 8.30 am. Was in school 9-14. Then I went to the Cinemateque at the Sture cinema and saw two films. Someone bought the sandwich on the way to the Danish film museum and saw two movies. It became the basis of my film education.nHan searched, in vain, to check at the Dramatic Institute. A meeting with those responsible went to the forest.it went better when he applied for The Danske Filmskole in Copenhagen.n– I did not understand what they said, they did not understand what I said, but I got in.”
“How hard was it to learn Danish?n– It depends on who you ask… I still have my English accent. You learn two similar languages, so it is like the one destroys the other.nHan think Sweden might be a little ängsligare country, but at the same time, it is good with political correctness, for example, within the policy, but not when it comes to art and culture.nHan speaks very good if the producer, which he calls ”the boss”.n– Meta was the first who came with proposal for me. And here in Denmark count I as ”american”, so she said: Should you not have a project in Sweden?”
“Ali was brought together by John Ajvide Lindqvist, the success author to many skräckböcker and, above all, ”Let the right one in”, Tomas Alfredson made a film that became a worldwide success.n– Financing in the film industry works a little strange. We could say that we’ll make a film about trolls and the field of datten and even if the script was less crazy than it sounds so there was no one who said, ”Aaaah”, until we said that it is based on a John-novell. It became a kind of legimitetsplattform to stand on.”
“the Future?n– I have been offered everything from $ 30 million-movies in Hollywood to weird French stuff. So, I have written a script about the most famous iranian serial killer in modern times. This is a new situation for me. Like going to H & M and think: What should I have on me?”
“Name: Ali Abbasi.nÅlder: 38.nBor: Apartment in Copenhagen.nFamilj: Single, 4-year-old son Luis (named after the film director Buñuel).nAktuell: Can be Guldbaggegalans king. And the film ”Border” received one oscar Nomination, for best makeup.”
“… nine nominees for the Radio:n– I don’t know… should I be satisfied? If not Eva (Melander) wins I will be pissed. She would be to host an Oscar for the role. Elsa Fischer, our costume designer, was not nominated. Her job has really lifted the film in a way I had not reckoned with. Maybe they thought now have the ”Limit” had enough with the nominations.”
“… why the film has made a success of a Swedish audience:n– My ego would like to believe that it is a fantastic movie. But I also think it filled a void in the Swedish film. It entertains people in a somewhat intelligent way and have something on the heart also. And it is like nothing else. It is not a ”Tourist” but with trolls.”
“… classmates and best friends from the film school, directors Milad Alami (”Charmer”) and Isabella Eklöf (”Holiday”):n– Milad, had written me about a damn weird story even before I met John Ajvide Lindqvist. It was the novel which is the basis for the ”Limit”. And Isabella is the co-author of the script, she did a lot of the dialogue.”
“… affiliation with the John Ajvide Lindqvist:n– We are both interested in lowbrow B-elements in the culture. To chain them together with what is considered more serious to something good.”
“… a fine and fulkultur:n– ”Borat” will in the future be regarded as a comic classic, a milestone in the filmhumorn. But you don’t look at the film that way to not been on parade in Cannes.”
“… the censorship is for film-makers in Iran:n– Asghar Farhadi (double Oscarsvinnare) have consistently and consistently made movies that have been critical of the iranian society. Honestly, I think many did not understand exactly how the censor works. And the problem with censorship and freedom of expression found in the whole of the muslim world.”
