The film industry in Iran operates under the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance that requires directors to submit their synopsis or screenplay for approval before production and their completed picture for a screening permit. The political landscape in this country with a rich cinematography has changed between periods of relative openness and strict control, as moderate and hardline governments have alternately loosened and reinforced censorship. However, this type of state control is not the only problem in the industry, as Mehrnoush Alia shows in her feature debut “1001 Frames”. 10 years after her awarded short “Scheherazade”, she expands on the topic of power imbalance not only in the film industry, but in the modern society in general.
Shown from a camera’s point of view, the story focuses on actresses auditioning for the role of Scheherazade in an adaptation of “A Thousand and One Nights”. Over time, it turns out that the director conducting auditions has more in mind than just casting the leading role. Being subjected to invasive questioning and humiliation, women find themselves trapped.
With each scene showing conversations between the director and actresses, the atmosphere of the film becomes more and more disturbing. Although they might feel repetitive, the variety of the actresses and their reactions makes up for it. One of them is a minor who ran away from home just to take part in the audition and appears to be unaware of the danger she is in. Another is the director’s ex-wife, who accuses him of stealing the idea for the movie, which after Asghar Farhadi‘s “Hero” (2021) controversy, seems to be an equally significant problem in the Iranian film industry, and blames him for the fact that no one wanted to hire her after their divorce.
The diversity of characters shows how common the abuse of power is. Some actresses don’t even know for which role they are auditioning and when the director asks one of them to perform “more erotic” she accurately points out: “But we can’t even make such films in Iran!”. Both scenes aptly underline the absurdity of the whole situation.
Reminiscent of the works of Jafar Panahi and Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the simple approach to cinematography by Hamed Hosseini Sangari gives the movie a documentary character. Filming from the camera perspective creates a sense of immediacy and realism, and the excellent acting of the entire crew only deepens these feelings. What’s more, limiting the action to one closed location makes the film claustrophobic, and the audience feels, as do the actresses, that there is nowhere to escape. The roles seem to be created specifically for the actresses, who therefore convincingly portray emotions from initial concern, chased away by laughter, to complete rage and rebellion against the director.
Even though it seems that Alia had the entire creative process under control, as she is the director, writer, producer and executive producer of “1001 Frames”, the movie, partially due to giving numerous characters a voice, feels like the result of a collaborative effort. Simple and consistent in form and content, the creators depart from it only at the end, thanks to which the picture gives the viewers some kind of relief. Despite that, it leaves them with a question asked by one of the auditioned actresses: “Are all auditions like this?”
