Bani Khoshnoudi – Fireflies #IFFR2019

February 4, 2019

Bani Khoshnoudi - Fireflies #IFFR2019 fredfilmradio

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PODCAST| Matt Micucci interviews Bani Khoshnoudi, director of the film Fireflies.

An interview with Bani Khoshnoudi, director of Fireflies, shown at the 2019 International Film Festival Rotterdam. Fireflies tells the story of a young Iranian gay man in Veracruz and the impact the relationships and friendships he forms in this place of transition have on his life and situation. In this interview, Khoshnoudi discusses the themes of violence and displacement, her influences and how her style favours subtleness. She also mentions that, being an Iranian filmmaker, Fireflies is her first film in Mexico, where she has now lived for some years, but how it was important for her to still have an Iranian element within the narrative.

Fireflies: Ramin, an Iranian immigrant in Mexico, carries his past on his back: literally, in the form of welts. In Fireflies, a Skype conversation reveals that he has left his boyfriend behind in Turkey. Early on in this immigrant drama, Ramin tries to return to Europe, but the high cost stops him. Or is it something else? Ramin single-mindedly steers his own course, even though he could easily join forces with a fellow immigrant, or a woman with a broken heart just like his Luciérnagas deals not only with immigration but also with issues of commitment: two not entirely unrelated issues. Is Ramin’s restless nature the result of the homophobic culture he grew up in? Director Bani Khoshnoudi leaves a lot unexplained, for her audience to chew on afterwards.