A Creative Forum with Iranian Filmmaker Mojtaba Bahador… — Transcript

This is where art meets thought. Stories we watch and stories that watch us back.

Stories that linger not just in the mind but in that quiet, unspoken space of being human. Welcome to Creative Forum, where art is experienced, not just discussed. I'm Shivani Tapa Bosnia, and from the crossroads of Kathmandu, we're joined by two extraordinary voices.

One from Iran and the other guest from China. Civilizations that have for centuries now shaped the way humanity tells its stories. From the poetic soul of Persian traditions to the philosophical depth of Chinese thought, these are cultures where storytelling

was never merely expression but reflection, memory, and of course, meaning. Professor Sununjan, Chinese media scholar exploring global storytelling,

and our other guest, Mustaba Bahadori, an Iranian filmmaker who travels the world finding humanity in the quietest moments of life. Both

are in town as jury members of the Nepal International Film Festival 2026. Uh, welcome to Kathmandu to both of you.

Hello to everyone. Hello to Nepal, to Nepalese people, to this wonderful, colorful, amazing culture that I'm very, very happy to be here and very excited actually. I had a chance to go out the last days, and I was so impressed by

everything. People, they are praying in the street. They are moving around full of handicraft, full of people, full of movement. It's like a cinema. It's like a total cinema. Very happy to be here. Lovely people give

me, including the smile, the delicious food, and the very lovely students and the friends here. Just to get started, I'm so curious to know because both of you travel the world with the great work that you do and the

great work that you carry around. Mustaba, let me turn to you. Why did you pick storytelling? Storytelling, I think, is a part of our culture as Iranians. So poetry and storytelling is a part of Iranian

culture, and we are born with that. I feel like all the Iranians are born to be poets or read poetry and tell a story through their poetry.

In the opening of the festival, there was a director of "Cholay," you remember, right?

Yes. I was so surprised because I remember I was a child in Shiraz. I was born in Shiraz. I grew up in the south of Iran, and it was forbidden to watch foreign films, as it still is. A lot of things

are forbidden in Iran. So people would hide VHS videos around the city, and we found a VHS video after the show. It was one of the first films I watched in my life. I will never forget the

scene of Sir David Himma. Yeah. The lady, she's dancing, the Basanti girl, right?

Yeah. The broken glasses. Yeah. It was so impressive how she can do that. Only in cinema can you have those scenes where people dance on broken glasses.

Yeah. I think the story started by watching films at a very early age, forbidden films like anything that is not Iranian or is not about Islamic culture.

Yeah. Which actually kind of structured the old character. When I was a teenager, my father bought me a VHS camera, and I started to film things around myself. I had only one video cassette, so I would film over and over

that cassette. You remember we could put it back or turn it back and then record the cassette tape.

Yeah. Cassette tape. Yeah. So I would film one thing and then I would watch it several times, and then I didn't have any other film, so I would film it again on top of that. That started by that and

theater. I started to write theater pieces when I was 13, always very, very influenced by things around me, especially in Persian culture.

Really amusing to know that your childhood or maybe your growing years were so much similar to that of ours here on this side of the world, right? Pretty much amusing. How about China, Professor Shon? Why communications? Why did you

even choose to come to this field? I found because China is a very large country. There are a lot of people living in different places, and 30 years ago, at that time, not everybody could speak Mandarin even, and even at

that time, we had a lot of ethnic races there. But now, things have been changing better and better day by day, and after I got my PhD, I became a lecturer,

associate professor, and a professor in my university. I am the head of the department of journalism and mass communication at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, and I love mass

communication because I got a PhD in mass communication, and later I chose my research about social media and online media because my university focuses on high-tech knowledge and computer science, AI technology as well. We have a lot of cooperation between different majors, and I'm so

interested in cross-cultural communication. When I came to Nepal 10 years ago, I was addicted to this country, to the Nepali people. I love this country very much. So that's the starting point of my research about

cross-cultural communication, and I do appreciate everything. So beautiful to see how Professor John loves and enjoys Nepal. Right. So you both are here for N, and one common thing that I really am curious

about is you both come from civilizations where storytelling is ancient. It's layered, and it's deeply philosophical. Right? And I wonder when you engage with cinema today or filmmaking today, do you feel you are creating something new, or you're

continuing something that has always existed in your cultures? I think originality is not very important in storytelling. Your story shouldn't be original; it should be truth.

It should be deep and should be personal. So I don't want to tell original stories. I don't try for that. I try to say truth or to say the story that is close to my heart, you know. So I think in the end

we are repeating the same story, the story of the human being.

Yeah. Mhm. But just we have different approaches because we have different experiences or we experience life differently.

Yes. And like talking about love, you know, so many poems about love, but they're all different because they have different approaches to love. You know, they see love in different things, but they try to explore it differently in each of them.

I think storytelling in film also is the same. Actually, in a jury, as a jury, we have a section where we have to say how original the film is, and this is one of the sections I like the least

because that's not really important to me. But for me, it is what is the impact of the film. Now, this is the part of the jury judge verdict that I give more importance to:

what was the impact of that film on me as an audience, as a person just watching it? And also about that, you know, the technical part is very important sometimes to make things impactful, like the sounds, the image, but still it is less important than the subject and how we approach the subject, what we are telling, what the story is that we want to tell our audience. So yeah, I think originality is not very important for me,

but being true, yes. Do you see films as an extension of that Persian artistic tradition where meaning is often found when it is left unsaid?

I mean, does your work focus more on the silences between the words and the sounds?

This is what we say in music. A note doesn't have a sense if there is no silence between notes. If you put two notes without silence in continuity, it is like noise, but if you do it

there is silence. So the music is born through the silence. I think the story is also born after the silence is established in a story. So we have this culture of silence in Iranian cinema, like big names that many people know, and I see also kind of Nepalese young filmmakers. They're quite familiar with Iranian cinema. We have a lot of silence in Iranian cinema because we need that to reflect about what we are. We hear, you know, we hear a

sentence, then we have to listen to...

who questions if the nature creates so perfectly in its unperfection me as an artist what I can create that is better than nature why we are creating actually so the answer is because we need to make sense for our life yeah so I see the

storytelling and artistic practice as a need for making sense to our life and also presenting a sense to other people a prop proposal to other people okay we can see the life in this way also from what I understand you were born and

raised in Iran And then later you shifted base to France where much of your career has really you know expanded and extended. So how has France changed you as a filmmaker?

I think France didn't change me but what it changed me is the people that they listen to your story and these people maybe you can find them in China in Nepal in France.

So I think I was lucky to be to to be surrounded by people that they are interested in a story that they want to tell.

And of course I'm still very very attached to the Iranian storytelling you know still like in my film on melting snow the the main story comes from the poetry of the roomie. So if we are cut from the origin what will happen to us?

Yeah we we will always go back to the origin especially when we grow we say okay I have to look back who I am. Yeah, the idea of who I am comes from the poetry of the Persian poetry of the

roomie. But then I shoot it in Iceland, partly in Belgium and partly in North Africa because I was looking for a very very minimalist landscape. So I went to find those landscape in different places in the world from the Atlantic from the

north from to to the south of planet. Um, I would say French culture and cinema is very open to new voices, is very generous in listening and I'm very lucky I think to be able to be part of

that culture for such a long time. Yeah. Chinese philosophy also has explored know long explored like ideas of I mean ideals of balance, harmony uh and of course relationship between individuals and and the collective right. So ho how

do these deeper cultural ideas that shape the ways stories are told? China has n story in this world and we have a bunch of uh philosophies of different sides and it's related to our mind to our heart and to

the relations uh between the families or with others and it is very important to um keep our mind calm and peaceful. So that's why uh Chinese people always think balance is the most important thing in our life and uh you're right uh

we think independent uh is uh related to your freedom as well. So we are so independent uh in this world and we treat the others peacefully. uh that's why if you can understand that so you can understand Chinese

most when we speak of Iranian cinema or films right it's almost impossible not to think of certain stillness um a certain honesty right a way of seeing that uh both feels so simple and at the same time profoundly profoundly

lay and in many ways that language has certainly been shaped by masters like Abas Karami uh whose classes you are so privileged to have attended and I'm I'm really curious uh you know besides what he taught you about cinema

what has changed in you in a way that you see the world under his guidance I remember the first time I had chance to to listen to him directly he just came back from Africa and where he made

ABC Africa it was just a beginning of the dig digital camera and there was a handy cam you know you remember the handy cam with the small films. Yeah.

So he asked his uh producer that is it possible to go to Africa to to to just see the location you know to find the location that where I can shoot my film and they said okay. So he went there

with the two other person and they started to film kids in a in a in an abandoned school like in a in a school for kids. uh and the kids they was interacting with the camera those very teenagers. He went back and he decided

to make the film just with the rush that he filmed with this handy cam. So no need to take a big camera or whatever.

He told us something. He said if you have a story to tell don't wait for big cameras for equipment and those kind of just do it. If you have something to tell, just do it. Why you're waiting?

What makes you wait so long? You know, and this is what I saw also in the Nepalese film. I I watched I think more than over 30 Nepalese film in the section that uh that I was part of it

and I see there is a lot of courageous film that they are telling their story with you know the minimum technical uh equipments and that makes me so happy because you can keep it as an idea and wait for the perfect situation and

sometime never happens but you can also take a little camera with your friends and just film your grandmother I don't know your sister, your the people in your village and tell the story that is important to you. So I'm very happy to

see that in a Nepalese film really I'm very impressed by that and also I think for me the first thing I learned from Apaskarami is like just do it don't wait for the perfect situation because sometime never you will have it just do

it. Thoughts of a true creator I believe. Yes. Yeah. Right. uh and even in your work we can see a lot of simplicity of the similar kind inspired maybe by Abaz Kristomy. So is minimalism for you um or Sabah an

aesthetic choice or is it is it a a philosophical one? I think if you want to emphasize one subject you need to decide but you don't want to talk about it right is like in a conversation. Yeah. If I want to talk

about the human condition in a certain place, why I have to talk about the things that is not connected to human condition. So I think in the end for being more precise, you need to be minimalist. You need to choose in the

end and you know I think in a in the end for having clear mind also you need to what you we do in the meditation right we try to just concentrate on our respiration concentrate on the minimum that we that

calls existence right I think the film for me also is the same if I want to talk about the subject I would like to make it just that you know put it there like a good uh chef cuisine. Yeah. You

put this little things there, then when you eat it, you feel it. You know, this is the idea.

Wow. I can listen to you like the entire day. It's interesting, right? This idea of saying more um you know with less uh you know of trusting the audience, right?

Yes. uh the minimalist approach in film making that it's the purity with which that is portrayed is so beautiful to any any aspirant or people who love uh real film and drama. Professor Xan from your perspective as a meter scholar uh in

today's very fast and very contentdriven world is there still space for this kind of quiet and very contemplative uh film?

Uh yes and I think the uh house is the quiet is a kind of power because it's from our mind. I do agree. uh Mashtaba uh says the truth is the most important thing uh in this world uh even including

uh the films the fiction uh films both uh fiction films and documentary uh films and uh this year I bring Shisan Panoroma to uh Leal again and this is a second uh shampoma and last year I'm a jury and organiz organizer and this

here. I am a director as well and uh uh because we uh listened to our audiences here last year, I found I should uh uh present uh a new uh shiang uh to our audiences. Uh tell the world what's the

truth uh in Shiang uh how developed it is now. Uh because Shiang is a modern society. Uh it has a high-speed train, bullied trains there. It has a lot of uh high-speed uh road highways there and the environment is still very good. Uh

we protect our uh uh we protect our environment very well in Shidang. We protected the the lakes, the mountains and the animals there. There is a story uh about slow leopard it will screen this afternoon. uh that's about how we

uh uh re uh deal with the relationship between the protected environment and the people's uh financial right uh because a slow leopard will go to uh the local people's house around the house uh the slow leopard uh ate the ship how can

we deal with that because according to our policy we have the compensation uh the people can get the money back from the government but still the local people felt uh angry about the ship's death uh something like that and uh uh

from Leo to China we have the similar situation about the environment protection and we also uh invited uh nine person nine young persons from uh six countries from United States uh uh Russia uh Morocco uh Itali uh Cambod

Odia and Li Lipa. The Z9 people visited Shian this January. So we shoot a short documentary film about their visiting.

They went to the the uh how to say they experienced the uh new electronic cars uh electronic uh vans. They have the uh test driving uh on the uh highway and they also uh took the bulleted train and

they went to uh the electricity power station and see all the development there and they also uh experienced the bubble tea uh with other young generation uh because in past times uh Shiang people enjoy uh the butter tea

with salt but it's salty tea. But nowadays uh more and people like uh sweet tea uh butter tea and some people also enjoy the sweet bubble tea. That's very interesting because the people there are having uh new and modern life uh

right now and the culture and the philosophy is not stopped by the history and every day is new and I think the tradition is also on the way day by day.

Mhm. So you mean to say that despite all the uh high-speed content uh trend that is ongoing still the real life experience is is is real and it's more important.

Uh yes and why did you besides promotion uh professor son why did you choose to come back with the siz panoroma to Nepal today?

Yeah, Shiang Panorama is very important because uh we uh releasing uh six films every uh year uh about uh Shiang and Shiang is a border part uh between Nepal and China and uh um between uh the uh Himalaya regions and Himalaya mountains.

Uh we are really like the families and brothers. We are relatives and labors. Uh that's very important for us to know each other and there are some traditional and cultural uh aspects uh are the same between our shisan culture

and the lipali culture. So we want to uh how to say uh approach uh the communication uh between the people in two countries.

Must have the same question to you. How is the current trend of media especially the on the consumption side where they're so fascinated into highspeed and you know scandalized contents affected you as a filmmaker or has it even

affected you? Yeah. Um but professor says is very very right you know the culture is not a object that doesn't move is something that constantly change and is a part of this you know heritage. the heritage is is made every day. And what I see also

go back to the Nepalese film, I see like there is this really nationalism and this I this strong interest and respect for Nepalese culture via like Nepalese filmmaker but in the same time in a lot of films they try to change things like

the habits that exist in the families the old culture that is not good for you know so I think they are making culture by respecting their own culture.

There's mean this is a constant change. The culture is born every single day. Yeah.

So I think also the speed this this fast culture is a part of the culture. Yeah.

The things going fast but back to minimalism. You have to choose what what do you want? Yeah. So, do you want to be constantly exposed by this fast word or you decide to go with your own speed in the in the road that

you choose to be in it? Right? I'm like it's very easy to be to be lost, you know, to be to lose yourself your mind in this fast forward. Uh I think it's necessary to have different type of

cinema. I don't think one cinema is cinema and the rest is not cinema. Everything is cinema you know every different style of the cinema. But some people they like this one and some other the other one and it's fine totally

fine. Uh yeah I think you know this very slow cinema is the like a reading roman in old time like a war and peace of tl it's like I tried to read it like maybe 20 time in my life always I went until the

half I didn't finish it you know so is the time that you know there was in the north Russia it was uh cold and there was no internet there you couldn't go out there was a snow until here behind

of your door you could read books like this that today is more difficult to read books like five over two. So I think the sit by your situation you have to choose your speed also you know and it shouldn't be one thing and tomorrow

not you know you can change it's fine to change it's very good to change we have to be open to change but my own cinema is a cinema that is impactful and is is makes making me to think and brings me

new question you know I watched this film yesterday in opening the Iranian film is a wonderful film yes it's about a man who wants to to find a laptop for his daughter to be able to finalize her her uh animation film you

know two different word but it's about the computer about creating alone in your own room so this is impactful film I love it and it's quite maybe a bit fast for me but still I love it impactful let's talk about let's continue talking

about n uh which brings you all to Kathmandu right so this place for many as we have perceived from the feedbacks that we've been receiving from a long time it people in many ways find so many stories unfolding here right so but you

are both creative people people in communications and film making so as you arrived here not as tourist but as storytellers what was that thing that you took note of that perhaps my others might have overlooked in the films

no the in Kathmandu I didn't still have so much chance to you know to to discover the city but you know it's a very kind and very attentive culture is a culture to to make you comfortable and welcome you. I

felt it since the first day I arrived here and also everyone does what they can to to find a solution if there's a problem. So I love that and I really yesterday for opening we was crossing this uh shopping mall and I was seeing

there is you know while I was going up there was some people they were selling sunglasses but they were watching in their YouTube a video of dance and I was like so amazing I'm going for opening of the festival of the country and I see

the real life while I'm in a stairs. So is a is a very true festival, true people and uh the way they do it is very true and I love that.

How about the festival festivals films you know the so far what I watched I'm impressed. I think you know last year when my film got the awards and I couldn't be here still I didn't have a clear idea about Nepali

cinema and but I was very happy to have an award called Everest awards that was the name of the award that they received last year and I was like I definitely have to you know find the opportunity to

go there and when they invited me as a jury I was you know I didn't hesitate even for a second and uh the film The Nepalese film in particular young Nepalese film young filmmakers they have so much things to say and they have so

much things to change respect respectfully toward their own culture and we see that through the film is is I'm very happy I'm very happy to see the films is very impactful professor Jean uh for you Nepal Kathmandu is like second home right so

uh I mean like does kathmandu feel familiar to you or does Does it surprise you every time you come back? Uh yeah actually every time customer do surprise me uh a lot and and uh in recent uh uh

years I came back uh again and again and I saw the changes uh by my own uh eyes and every time I came back I found the streets a cleaner and a cleaner and I think the lipali e economy is raising up

uh year by year uh that's uh the happiest thing uh to me and the Leipali friends are so kind and friendly especially the the common person on the street most of them are very friendly to uh to you. Some kids will say hello uh

to you and and some including the girls and and boys and every time I was touched by some flowers and plants and then because um every time I came here in different seasons I saw different flowers. Sometimes I was

touched by the flowers blossom uh in the corner or on the street uh or just on the window. Uh I think that's the happiness uh about uh Lipali's common person's life, daily life. Uh and I also uh very grateful for the changes of the

cafeteria. Uh and uh here we can experience different kind of foods uh including uh Korean cushion, Japanese cushion, uh Italian cushion, yes, Chinese uh some snacks here. Uh and Chinese noodles uh are popular here and the prices are not expensive. Uh the

local young people tell me uh they love uh Chinese uh cushion especially from my hometown. I was born uh Chongqin uh mountain uh city in China.

Amazing city that we see like on all those videos. Yes, I I show you before and it is called uh ad digital uh city. It's amazing and one day I hope you uh to visit there uh and uh uh I think uh

according to my opinion uh Leel will uh uh getting better will will be better and better in the future. Yeah. And the young generation uh their uh how to say their appearance is really uh active.

Yeah. I like it. Right. Thank you. So before I mean like before you wrap we wrap this up there is one section where I get to ask you quick questions and I request I mean you two give me uh very

quick answers maybe a word or just something that comes uh I mean to your mind right away.

Silence is accepted. Sorry. I wish not. All right. So the first one is one film that made you feel deeply human.

A man without past Akur Mak which this is this an Iranian film? No it's a Finnish film from Finland.

Yeah. Wow. How about you professor Jun? Uh a snow leopard. The snow leopard. Okay. Wow. Um silence in cinema or music?

Silence. Silence. Silence. A story you will carry with you from Gatmandu. Uh being grateful people.

Grace. Yeah. Wow. Love story. Wow. Okay. Um one word for Kathmandu. A smell of oud is not one word but the smell of this what they turn on on a And the praying the oud the incense. The incense.

The smell of incense. Yeah. Joyful. Joyful. All right. Uh story first or image first?

A story. Story. Um how do you see cinema today? Overwhelming or evolving? Evolving. Evolving.

Uh, one thing young filmmakers should hold on to. Keep doing it. Yeah. Not don't stop.

Don't stop. Yeah. AI take knowledge. Wow. Okay. Thank you. Thank you so much for your like valuable time for taking the time to come over to NA World Studios and being there at N. Um and yes I mean like do continue your great job

and keep inspiring. Thank you very much for hosting us. Thank you. Thank you. It's our great great honor.

Yeah. Thank you. In the quiet between the poetic silence and academic vision that I talked about the two valuable voices that we had with us here in our studios. We really found a shared heartbeat even among themselves. For the shadows of Theran to

the lights of Kathmandu. We are certainly reminded that while the world may break, the story remains whole.

Thank you for being part of this creative forum episode and until next time, this is Shivani Taba Bosnet signing off. Goodbye.