Few have had a film debut quite like Anaita Wali Zada in Fremont. The independent movie that debuted at this year’s Sundance Film Festival follows the extremely mundane goings-on of its protagonist, Donya, an Afghan refugee living in Fremont, Calif. Just five months before agreeing to be in the film, Zada, who had never acted before, had fled Afghanistan when the Taliban returned to power.

While the role was not written for Zada, her life and that of the lead character share a lot in common. In fact, the only thing weirder than “coming to America and starring in an independent film” would be “coming to America to end up being the person who writes the aphorisms for fortune cookies,” as Donya does.

This light whiff of the absurd gives Fremont, which is mostly a drama, its bone-dry comic effect. Donya’s initial wants are simple: she’s just hoping to score some sleep aids. But getting this accomplished isn’t easy, and it involves engaging with a well-meaning but dopey psychiatrist (Gregg Turkington) and a handsome, kind mechanic (Jeremy Allen White.)

I spoke with the film’s director and co-writer, Iranian-British filmmaker Babak Jalali about the movie’s influences and the leap of faith in casting a complete novice. Our discussion below has been edited for clarity.

This movie is very much of the here-and-now, but I loved how it reminded me of some of the great indies of the ’80s and ’90s.

Babak Jalali: Certainly, I was influenced by Jim Jarmusch’s early films and Aki Kaurismäki’s films. Hal Hartley’s films, too. The way people speak to one another in Hartley’s movies is different than anything I had seen at the time. I really like that, to strip away all drama and histrionics.

I would watch his movies with other people, and they’d say, “It doesn’t feel real; no one talks that way.” And I thought, “Okay, but all the other films are way too theatrical; no one speaks like that either.”

Babak Jalali: Certainly, I was influenced by Jim Jarmusch’s early films and Aki Kaurismäki’s films. Hal Hartley’s films, too. The way people speak to one another in Hartley’s movies is different than anything I had seen at the time. I really like that, to strip away all drama and histrionics.

I would watch his movies with other people, and they’d say, “It doesn’t feel real; no one talks that way.” And I thought, “Okay, but all the other films are way too theatrical; no one speaks like that either.”

When you crack open the cookies, sometimes it’s just nonsense, but sometimes it’s golden, and it lingers. I’ve kept some fortunes for years. It all alludes to the idea that anything is possible.

I understand you were inspired to make this film because you read a newspaper series about Afghan refugees, but it was only about men.

Yes, and there were women translators in Afghanistan.

The representation of Afghan women in the media tends to focus on the misery — that they have no agency and they’ve been oppressed. It’s absolutely important and should be highlighted that they have no access to education or can’t run a business. But I lived in Iran for the first eight years of my life, surrounded by Afghans there, and I’ve met many Afghan immigrants. I know Afghan women who are mighty and powerful and proud — and who can wipe the floor of the men. We just never see them in movies.

Your co-writer, cinematographer and principal producers are all women. Was this by design?

And other department heads, like costume designer and hair and makeup, assistant director. But I didn’t set out that way. A pleasant accident because, honestly, there are moments when, for example, a costume is not sitting right. As a man, it may not hit me that the actress is being bothered. Women in the crew would whisper in my ear to make sure she is okay.

Your lead actress — Anaita Zada — is the big story here. Though she had been on camera as a journalist, had she really never acted before, not in a play or anything? When you get to day one on set, are you like, “Okay, let’s hope I didn’t make a mistake here”?

I’ve worked with non-professional actors before, and you are right. It’s a punt, and you don’t know which way it will go.

The pool of professional acting talent who are Afghans in America is almost non-existent. So we put out a call and looked for candidates from everywhere. It was tough. Then Anaita sent us an email that she’d heard about the project, saying she was 22. She left on an evacuation flight just five months earlier when the Taliban came back to power, leaving her family behind. She said she’d never acted before, and her English was only so-so, but when we met over Zoom, I immediately knew she was right, just by the way she stared into the camera.

But yes — day one, I was thinking, “Oh, crap …” Though we were lucky, as the first two days were across Jeremy Allen White.

That’s amazing to me. I would think you’d want to ease her in with solo shots in her kitchen or something, not the emotional climax opposite a famous guy!

It was because of scheduling, and in the beginning, I was a mess. I thought it was crazy, that it’s one thing for Anaita to talk to me about the script, but to have her in front of the crew — people will freeze, it’s only normal! But in hindsight, it worked out better this way. It was clear in the first hour: just throw her in the deep end with Jeremy. He knew the situation and was so understanding, so it put her at ease. She gained so much confidence in that first hour, and that sustained her.

He could have been, “Hey, you are lucky to have me here,” but no, he was good as gold. Same with Gregg Turkington, and they have a lot of scenes together.

Let’s get to Gregg in a second, but about Anaita — did she have any of the film literacy we were talking about earlier?

I showed her a few clips, but not too much. Working with non-professionals, if you show them too much, they start to overact. Start them all the way down low; then, you can tune it back up.

Had she at least seen mainstream movies, like Avengers or something?

On bootlegs, yes, on the internet, via VPN prior to the Taliban coming back.

And now she plans to continue acting?

She’s a treasure. And let’s put it into context. Just months earlier, she had been on one of these horrific flights that you saw on the news; her mother and siblings are still back there. So after shooting, when we’re all thinking, “Let’s get a beer,” that’s where her mind is.

So, Gregg Turkington: his comedy can be so arch and so weird, but I’ve met him, and he just seems like such a mild dude.

I love Rick Alverson’s films, On Cinema, and the Neil Hamburger persona. I’d never met him, but I just sensed he was nothing like those characters and could play the shrink. I was nervous at first, wondering if he would be totally strange, but he’s very humble and calm. We didn’t rehearse or anything; we just talked about the role, and he pulled it off.

I love that you think he’s going to be a roadblock for her or an antagonist, and he is to a degree, but your movie doesn’t really have any villains.

I have nothing against villains! But I wanted you to have empathy with everyone. This film was written at a peculiar time. Brexit was happening in England, Trump was in America, and I kept reading so much garbage that was demonizing others. A whole system putting the fear of God into regular people about others that they knew nothing about. I just wanted to level the field. The people in the film are all very different, but at a root level, they’re exactly the same.

Source: By Jordan Hoffman for The Messenger Entertainment

Share.

CWB News Department, collects and republishes most important news and stories about International and Independent cinema, by noting the original source of the articles

Comments are closed.