In a recent interview with PTI, debutante director Sreemoyee Singh said, “Being able to express something in the right way matters to me.” Her documentary, a MUBI exclusive – And, Towards Happy Alleys (Be Kucheye Khoshbakht) – embodies that line of thinking. In just a span of 75 minutes, she presents a bold and stirring elegy to iconic feminist Iranian poet and filmmaker, the late Forugh Farrokhzad, via vignettes of candid yet intrepid conversations captured in shaky frames. Braided with precision and Persophilia, the movie is an ode to Iranian cinema, poetry and activism. What began as doctoral research on ‘exiled filmmakers in post-revolution Iran’, crystallised as a passionate effort to shift focus on directors, actors and poets in a nation that has faced rampant censorship and severe repression for decades. Equal part personal and political, And, Towards Happy Alleys is an unwavering portrait of resilience and compassion, laced with Sreemoyee’s lyrical narration.
If you have watched acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panâhi’s 2020 short Hidden, in which he and his daughter travel to a remote Kurdish village to help a theatremaker trace a soprano who is forbidden by her family to perform publicly, you might find a thematic resemblance to Sreemoyee’s documentary. And, Towards Happy Alleys, like Hidden, highlights the urgent need to restore women’s rights in the country. Here too Jafar appears as a friendly associate, who takes the Indian director around Tehran to help her document voices and faces that although termed ‘dissidents’ have managed to resist the restrictions imposed by The Ministry of Guidance. [In July 2022, Jafar was sentenced to six years in prison along with fellow filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof and barred from writing screenplays and leaving the country for 20 years, for ‘making propaganda against the system’. He was released on bail in February 2023. Recognised globally, Jafar is counted among Iran’s most influential filmmakers].
In the course of the narrative, you’ll also meet actress Aida Mohammadkhani, who played a child artist in Jafar’s 1995 film The White Balloon and The Mirror (1997). Then, there’s another actress, named Mina Mohammadkhani, who had also appeared in The Mirror. Jafar was a close associate of the multi-award-winning Iranian film director Abbas Kiarostami, whose bold and thought-provoking movies are celebrated globally. He worked as an assistant director for Abbas, collaborating on several projects. Don’t miss out on the bit with noted actor Farhad Kheradmand, who had featured in two of Abbas’ films – And Life Goes On (1992) and Through the Olive Trees (1994). He recollected working with the legend, while leafing through the pages of an old magazine and pictures from an album. The actor belonged to a generation that had closely witnessed the revolution. Interestingly, cinema happened to him by fluke, after Abbas spotted him at a party.
Sreemoyee recorded the interviews between 2015 and 2019 during her many visits to the Iranian capital, which were later stitched into a film. Interestingly, she’s said to be the first non-Iranian director to have filmed a documentary in the country after learning Persian. In her words, “I came here seeking the stories of filmmakers, but cinema opened a window through which I entered an unexpected world.” Her command over the language and the fluency with which she speaks and sings in Farsi is a highlight of the documentary. In her low mellifluous voice, Sreemoyee sings two-three songs in the documentary: one is Soltane Ghalbha, the lyrics of which roughly translates to ‘the heart says it wants to leave..’ and the other song means, ‘dear Maryam, open your eyes..’. There are also snippets of bouzouki, which her friend plays when they go to the grave of Forugh at Tehran’s Zahir-od-dowleh cemetery. Meanwhile, in another conversation, filmmaker Mohammad Shirvani talks about why some of his films are considered ‘obscene’.
With teary eyes, Iranian author Jinous Nazokkar remembered the works of Forugh. She spoke about how even before the revolution, the poet-filmmaker voiced the feelings of Iranian women. Jinous also mentions Forugh’s award-winning 1962 documentary The House Is Black, which faced censorship at that time. During a taxi ride, passengers discuss the ‘issue between hijab and modesty’, and why many believe that ‘hijab is within oneself… it’s an inner state of being… covering alone doesn’t make one modest’. According to writer Maede M, any kind of regulation is an insult to people’s clothing choices. “My mother is someone who believes in hijab, and yet she doesn’t agree with mandatory hijab,” she said. The film also features Iran’s human rights lawyer and activist Nasrin Sotoudeh, who had spent nine months in the notorious Qarchak Prison. She’s deeply troubled to see the imposition of chador – ‘a potent symbol of misogyny’ – on women inmates during her jail term. She voices her concern about the regime’s determination to crush dissent, no matter the cost.
Amid all the discourse on films, music, readings of Forugh, artistic censorship, state surveillance, patriarchy and women raising the scarf, the film documents Iran’s curious affair with rhinoplasty. Known as the ‘Mecca of nose jobs’, many in the country prefer to have a nose like Barbie – ‘small and upturned’. “In a world where women’s bodies are erased, sculpting a flawless face seems to be the path to perfect beauty,” comments the director. That said, there are also women who consider going under the knife, not because they want a ‘more normal and beautiful nose’ but only to stop people from commenting on the shape and size of their nose. There’s a sudden spurt of energy in the movie when Sreemoyee records the night Iran was playing against Spain during the 2018 World Cup. Tehran turned into a live stadium, as “women stole their moment of freedom”, bending restrictions just for a few hours.
Then a PhD student at Kolkata’s Jadavpur University, Sreemoyee often wondered why she sang a lot more in Iran. “I was living in a dormitory in Tehran. My roommates would cook for me, I would sing for them. I learned Farsi through songs,” she says. One may term the premise of And, Towards Happy Alleys ‘somewhat flawed’ or they may criticise the movie for being ‘captured through the lens of a tourist’. But just a few minutes into the film will make you realise the honesty, humility and passion with which these conversations and moments have been captured. The documentary is as much a self-discovery as it is a poetic ode to Iranian spirit and culture. Punctuated by the narrator’s delicate voice, the film celebrates the Iranian men and women who refuse to be silenced amid unbridled persecution and intensifying oppression. Watch And, Towards Happy Alleys for its haunting melodies and unflinching brilliance.
And, Towards Happy Alleys
Director: Sreemoyee Singh
Cast: Jafar Panahi, Nasrin Sotoudeh, Jinous Nazokkar, Farhad Kheradmand, Aida Mohammadkhani, Mina Mohammadkhani, Mohammad Shirvani and Maede M
Rating: 3 stars
(This review was originally published on The Movie Mail’s Instagram page)
