In Its Most Minimal Form: Kaveh Mazaheri On His Debut Feature Botox
Kaveh Mazaheri is a writer/director from Iran. He made his short-form debut in 2005 with Tweezers, and has been making films ever since. With more than 20 short films (both documentary and fiction) under his belt, Kaveh finally makes his triumphant feature film debut with Botox. The film hilariously examines family dynamics with incisive dark comedy, and it absolutely showcases Kaveh’s sharp skills as a minimalist filmmaker.
Sisters Akram and Azar lie about the disappearance of their brother by telling everyone he has fled to Germany. In time, this "lie" takes on a life of its own, leading to dark and mysterious places.
The film has received a great deal of success on the festival circuit, picking up two wins at the 2020 Torino Film Festival and a “Best First Feature Film” award at Fajr International Film Festival. The film will also be premiering at the upcoming Shanghai International Film Festival. We had the pleasure of chatting with Kaveh about his film, its origins, finding the magic, and much much more!
Firstly, congratulations on the film’s festival wins and its recent acceptance into the the Shanghai International Film Festival. How does it feel to have your debut some warmly received?
Naturally I was very happy, because the Torino Film Festival is a very prestigious festival, and it was the first time an Iranian film had won the best picture award. In addition to this, we also won the best screenplay award at the festival. With regards to the Shanghai Film Festival, I must say I was very happy when I learned that we were being premiered! It was a big honor! This made me feel that all the hard work of the film crew and actors had been noticed and appreciated.
How did the concept for Botox originate?
The main character in Botox is derived from a real person in my life. It had been many years that I wanted to make a movie about her, but which each passing year my view about cinema and that character also changed. I decided that for my first feature film I would write something that juggled elements of truth with lots of imagination. My whole intention was to capture the tragic/comic soul of that character and bring it on screen.
Amidst this tale of two sisters, there’s a plot device involving hallucinogenic fungi. How did magic mushrooms find their way into the story?
While writing the screenplay, I did a lot of research about jobs that women can do while staying at home. One of those jobs which very profitable and popular amongst rural women, was the cultivation of edible mushrooms. The other jobs weren’t very interesting to me. Then, during the writing of the screenplay, I slowly changed edible mushrooms to magic mushrooms. We thought that although the cultivation of magic mushrooms may appear very normal and ordinary, but in reality it is illegal and not that much different than the selling of cocaine. Furthermore the hallucinogenic environment of the magic mushroom is also in line with the mental state of the movie’s main character, Akram.
You have such a distinct visual style and showcase a great deal of restraint as a director. On the surface, it appears very minimal, but it’s actually quite intricate and deliberate. How do you approach shooting a scene? What’s your process for finding an angle that feels right for a scene or a moment?
Finding an equilibrium between the visual style and the minimal image processing as well as the complete projection of the story, concept and feeling is the most difficult thing I must do as a filmmaker. This usually takes place during my quiet time when from the outside it may appear I am being useless and just wandering around for no reason. Arriving at these seminal points is so energy consuming and in a way is like shedding skin. During these times I am always thinking and thinking, and constantly erase my initial ideas so I can arrive at the most minimal state. At these times you are usually the loneliest person in the world and no one knows what kind of mess you might do, until you actually go ahead and do it. The next most difficult part is to convince your cinematographer, producers and actors to believe in you and join you in this path. Before the actual shoot, I have thought about everything so many times, and I have a complete vision of the movie and all the sounds in my mind, so that during the shoot I strive to reach that very point. I rarely shoot any extra scenes or even repetitive scenes; I do however welcome any improvised new ideas that may add value to my initial concept and vision and would accept those ideas unless they are totally irrelevant and incoherent.
We know you’ve worked with Soroush Saeidi previously on Funfair, but this is the first time you’ve worked with actresses Sussan Parvar and Mahdokht Molaei, who play the leads. How did you discover them?
Susan Parvar was suggested to me by Sonia Sanjari, who was the actress who starred in my short movies. I did some research on her and found out that she would be the best actress for this role. She was a well known actress in the comedy genre, but she also possessed a certain kind of sadness in her eyes and in her words. Although I didn’t know her that well, I knew she would be great choice for the role. Following our first face to face meeting, I learned that she was very intelligent and that I was not wrong about my gut feeling. In addition to being a great comedic actress, she was also an emotional actress possessing great technique. Furthermore, she had established a deep connection and a great relationship with me and the character of Akram. During the film’s production a few metaphysical occurrences also assured me that Susan was the best choice for the role of Akram. She used to show up on set with a lot of positive energy, and I was very fortunate to have her in this movie. I had known Mahdokht Molaei from her short movies in the past. When I saw them together on screen, I realized that they really could be sisters.
The film’s cinematography is gorgeous, and the blue color palette really give the visuals a striking pop. How did you and cinematographer Hamed Hosseini Sangari discover the film’s aesthetics?
Hamed Sangari and I met numerous times during the 6 month preproduction and we made a visual CV for the movie, which consisted of drawings and photos that we ourselves took at the movie locations. We talked about them for hours on end and we visited the set locations to take further tests. Eventually, we decided how each scene should look when it came to lighting and coloring. My personal opinion is to have everything in its most minimal form, enabling us to constantly delete and delete so that we can arrive at the stage we currently see in the movie.
What does cinema mean to you?
For me, it’s a form of meditation enabling me to cleanse my mind.
What films or filmmakers have inspired you, your style, or your approach to telling a story?
I would say first and foremost Buster Keaton. He is undoubtedly one of the top ten greatest filmmakers in history. I adore the playful nature of [Abbas] Kiarostami. I love the women in [Claude] Chabrol’s movies. [David] Fincher’s and [Stanley] Kubrick’s total command in their movies have always been fascinating to me. [Andrei] Tarkovsky and his movie Mirror which both seem out of this world.
Do you have a favorite scene or moment from the film?
Probably the moment when we see the image of Emad in the glass at the bakery. There is a scene where we zoom in on Emad so that we can see him more clearly, but the more we zoom in the more he becomes blurry and unclear. I love that scene.
Okay, so the film’s ending was delightfully unexpected, totally mesmerizing, and also kind of hilarious. Did you always know you were going to end the film in this way, or was it more of a discovery process?
Yes I did. From the moment I wrote a 2 page summary of the movie, I knew that that would be the ending. In reality, I knew the ending before the other parts of the movie. I visualized that the general theme of the movie would be an Iranian dark comedy encapsulated in a crime thriller. I am very happy that you stated the movie was unexpected and hilarious, because I did not want the movie to be a serious tragedy movie.
What do you hope audiences take away from the film?
I hope they understand Akram and that they like her. If I can accomplish this then I am satisfied.
Do you have any future projects in the works that you can share with us?
Yes. I wrote a script last year but I became discouraged from making it when I was looking for funding. The movie was a very personal movie. I am currently in the process of writing a new screenplay, which is also a mix genre thriller. I think it’s a very interesting story which takes place between a group of friends in Iran. I intended to delve deep into the new digital media. This screenplay will be jointly written with Sepinood Najian just like my recent movies.
Hungry for more?! Check out the links below:
Botox review
Interview with Soroush Saeidi about Botox
Funfair review
Interview with Soroush Saeidi about Funfair
What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!