“Modernization should be at the service of humanity, yet people find themselves conquered by it,” says Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi in the press notes to his new film “The Song of Sparrows.”
“The result is that with each passing day we are becoming more distant from our own human values—including friendship, morality, and beauty—[these values] become less important day by day… In opposition to this process, my aim was to say that we must return to our human essence or else face a major disaster in the future.”
Born in Tehran in 1959, Mr. Majidi was nominated for the Academy award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1997 for his previous work “Children Of Heaven.” He has earned a reputation as one of Iran’s most renowned filmmakers with a number of feature films to his credit, including “Baran” and “The Color of Paradise.”
His new film is a glimpse into rural Iran, and the struggles of a simple Ostrich farmer to provide for his family while maintaining his traditional values.
“My aim in ‘The Song of Sparrows’ was to portray contemporary people vis-a- vis this modern world in order to show how the era of modernization has put human beings in a stranglehold.”
Mr. Majidi cast the award winning Iranian actor Reza Naji, as the resourceful Karim, who must resort to finding work in the city of Tehran, and doing odd jobs in order to earn enough money to replace his oldest daughter’s broken hearing aid.
Inspired by a trip to an ostrich farm, Mr. Majidi based the main character on a worker he had met there, a quiet man who lived near the farm in a loving, peaceful, and humble home with his family. The farmer had an unusual rapport with the ostriches where it seemed they could almost understand each other.
Mr. Majidi wondered what would happen if this gentle kind being were tested by difficult circumstances.
“I felt that on the surface, he lived on earth, but he also possessed two wings that he could use to fly to the heavens whenever he became lonely like an angel…When I began to wonder whether his spirit would continue to fly when faced with urban life and modernity, this became the spark for the screenplay of ‘The Song of Sparrows’.”
“The result is that with each passing day we are becoming more distant from our own human values—including friendship, morality, and beauty—[these values] become less important day by day… In opposition to this process, my aim was to say that we must return to our human essence or else face a major disaster in the future.”
Born in Tehran in 1959, Mr. Majidi was nominated for the Academy award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1997 for his previous work “Children Of Heaven.” He has earned a reputation as one of Iran’s most renowned filmmakers with a number of feature films to his credit, including “Baran” and “The Color of Paradise.”
His new film is a glimpse into rural Iran, and the struggles of a simple Ostrich farmer to provide for his family while maintaining his traditional values.
“My aim in ‘The Song of Sparrows’ was to portray contemporary people vis-a- vis this modern world in order to show how the era of modernization has put human beings in a stranglehold.”
Mr. Majidi cast the award winning Iranian actor Reza Naji, as the resourceful Karim, who must resort to finding work in the city of Tehran, and doing odd jobs in order to earn enough money to replace his oldest daughter’s broken hearing aid.
Inspired by a trip to an ostrich farm, Mr. Majidi based the main character on a worker he had met there, a quiet man who lived near the farm in a loving, peaceful, and humble home with his family. The farmer had an unusual rapport with the ostriches where it seemed they could almost understand each other.
Mr. Majidi wondered what would happen if this gentle kind being were tested by difficult circumstances.
“I felt that on the surface, he lived on earth, but he also possessed two wings that he could use to fly to the heavens whenever he became lonely like an angel…When I began to wonder whether his spirit would continue to fly when faced with urban life and modernity, this became the spark for the screenplay of ‘The Song of Sparrows’.”
