Sohrab Shahid-Saless
Encyclopedia
Sohrab Shahid-Saless 28 June 1944, Tehran
– 2 July 1998, Chicago
, Illinois
) was an Iran
ian film director
and screenwriter
and one of the most celebrated figures in Iranian cinema in the 20th century. After 1976 he worked in the Cinema of Germany
and was an important component of the film diaspora
working in the German industry.
in 1943 and lived in Tehran
. He studied film in Vienna
and Paris
. After returning to Iran, he first worked for the Ministry of Arts and Culture, where he made 22 films. In 1976, he left Iran for Germany
, where he worked as a filmmaker until 1991, then moving to Chicago
. He died in Chicago, IL in July 1998.
. In contrast, Still Life (1974) explores the monotony in the life of an old railway switchman – a film that won many prizes, including one at the 1974 Berlinale. In 1975 Saless directed Far from Home (1975).
In 1976 on moving to Germany Saless released Diary of a Lover (1976), Coming of Age (1976), and Utopia
(1983). Utopia is a 186 minute film regarded by critics as a "hard ghetto film" and is the tale of a pimp and his five girls. The film was entered into the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival
.
Towards his later career he mostly directed films for television. Between 1991 and 1992 he directed Rosen für Afrika, a Psychodrama about how injustice is turned into oblivion about an opportunity worker and a woman from the civil house of a marriage for 30 years . Soon the relationship fails due to the aggressive, also destructive tendencies of the man who enters a deep personal crisis. When the marriage coined/shaped of force and Psychoterror goes finally into the breaks, the man looks for comfort in the alcohol
and becomes criminal. It was released on German television in 1991.
images that almost corresponded with the temporal flow of rural life. The film is so simple and unadorned that it creates the illusion of having been made with no prepared overall design.
For all its lyrical charm, A Simple Event must be considered as a prelude or a preparation for Shahid-Saless’s acclaimed film Still Life which was awarded the Silver Bear for best direction and the critics’ prize at the 24th Berlin International Film Festival
in 1974. Still Life is the monotonous, uneventful life of a switchman living in a remote, desolate spot. For the old man and his wife everything ends on the day he receives his retirement papers. A young switchman arrives and the old man has to move... to nowhere.
This poetical and elegiac picture is regarded as one of the best works produced in Iranian cinema. Shahid-Saless defends basic human values, and at the same time exposes the horrible cruelty upon which the bureaucratic system is based. All his life the old man repeats a simple job: lowering the fence on the road
intersecting the railway whenever a train passes. And Shahid-Saless presents the dull monotony of this life with an appropriate rhythm.
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
– 2 July 1998, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
) was an Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and one of the most celebrated figures in Iranian cinema in the 20th century. After 1976 he worked in the Cinema of Germany
Cinema of Germany
Cinema in Germany can be traced back to the late 19th century. German cinema has made major technical and artistic contributions to film.Unlike any other national cinemas, which developed in the context of relatively continuous and stable political systems, Germany witnesses major changes to its...
and was an important component of the film diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
working in the German industry.
Biography
Sohrab Shahid-Saless was born in TehranTehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
in 1943 and lived in Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
. He studied film in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. After returning to Iran, he first worked for the Ministry of Arts and Culture, where he made 22 films. In 1976, he left Iran for Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, where he worked as a filmmaker until 1991, then moving to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. He died in Chicago, IL in July 1998.
Film career
In his first feature, the milestone film A Simple Event (1973), he describes the everyday life of a ten-year-old boy living in a small town with an ill mother and a father struggling to make a living smuggling fishFish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
. In contrast, Still Life (1974) explores the monotony in the life of an old railway switchman – a film that won many prizes, including one at the 1974 Berlinale. In 1975 Saless directed Far from Home (1975).
In 1976 on moving to Germany Saless released Diary of a Lover (1976), Coming of Age (1976), and Utopia
Utopia (1983 film)
Utopia is a 1983 German drama film directed by Sohrab Shahid-Saless. It was entered into the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival.-Cast:* Manfred Zapatka as Heinz* Imke Barnstedt as Renate* Gundula Petrovska as Rosi* Gabriele Fischer as Susi...
(1983). Utopia is a 186 minute film regarded by critics as a "hard ghetto film" and is the tale of a pimp and his five girls. The film was entered into the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival
33rd Berlin International Film Festival
The 33rd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 18 to March 3, 1983.-Jury:* Jeanne Moreau * Alex Bänninger* Franco Brusati* Elem Klimov* Ursula Ludwig* Kurt Maetzig* Joseph L...
.
Towards his later career he mostly directed films for television. Between 1991 and 1992 he directed Rosen für Afrika, a Psychodrama about how injustice is turned into oblivion about an opportunity worker and a woman from the civil house of a marriage for 30 years . Soon the relationship fails due to the aggressive, also destructive tendencies of the man who enters a deep personal crisis. When the marriage coined/shaped of force and Psychoterror goes finally into the breaks, the man looks for comfort in the alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
and becomes criminal. It was released on German television in 1991.
Cinematic style
With A Simple Event Sohrab Shahid-Saless emerged on the Iranian film scene as a filmmaker with a distinctive style. Adopting an almost documentary style, Shahid-Saless records uneventful moments in the lives of ordinary people. He has said, "A Simple Event has no plot. It is only a report on the daily life of a boy". Working with a cast of non-professional local players, Shahid-Saless constructed his film with realisticRealism (arts)
Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular, empirical rules", as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation...
images that almost corresponded with the temporal flow of rural life. The film is so simple and unadorned that it creates the illusion of having been made with no prepared overall design.
For all its lyrical charm, A Simple Event must be considered as a prelude or a preparation for Shahid-Saless’s acclaimed film Still Life which was awarded the Silver Bear for best direction and the critics’ prize at the 24th Berlin International Film Festival
24th Berlin International Film Festival
The 24th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from June 21 to July 2, 1974.-Jury:* Rodolfo Kuhn * Margaret Hinxmann* Pietro Bianchi* Gérard Ducaux-Rupp* Kurt Heinz* Akira Iwasaki* Arthur Knight* Manfred Purzer...
in 1974. Still Life is the monotonous, uneventful life of a switchman living in a remote, desolate spot. For the old man and his wife everything ends on the day he receives his retirement papers. A young switchman arrives and the old man has to move... to nowhere.
This poetical and elegiac picture is regarded as one of the best works produced in Iranian cinema. Shahid-Saless defends basic human values, and at the same time exposes the horrible cruelty upon which the bureaucratic system is based. All his life the old man repeats a simple job: lowering the fence on the road
Road
A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...
intersecting the railway whenever a train passes. And Shahid-Saless presents the dull monotony of this life with an appropriate rhythm.
Awards and accolades
Sohrab Shahid-Saless won 12 professional film awards and 3 nominations during his career.Filmography as Director
- 1973 Yek etefagh-e sadeh (A Simple Event)
- 1974 Tabiat-e bijanStill Life (1974 film)Still Life is a 1974 Iranian film directed by Sohrab Shahid-Saless. It was entered into the 24th Berlin International Film Festival where it won the Silver Bear.-Cast:* Zadour Bonyadi - Mohamad Sardari* Mohammed Kani* Hibibollah Safarian...
(Still Life) - 1975 Dar Ghorbat (Far from Home)
- 1976 Tagebuch eines Liebenden (Diary of a lover)
- 1976 Reifezeit
- 1979 Die Langen Ferien der Lotte H. Eisner
- 1980 Ordnung
- 1981 Anton P. Cechov - Ein Leben (TV)
- 1983 Empfänger unbekannt
- 1983 UtopiaUtopia (1983 film)Utopia is a 1983 German drama film directed by Sohrab Shahid-Saless. It was entered into the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival.-Cast:* Manfred Zapatka as Heinz* Imke Barnstedt as Renate* Gundula Petrovska as Rosi* Gabriele Fischer as Susi...
- 1984 Der Weidenbaum
- 1985 Hans - Ein Junge in Deutschland (TV)
- 1987 Wechselbalg (TV)
- 1991 Rosen für Afrika (TV)
External links
- http://www.saless.de - a German homepage, devoted to the life and work of Saless