And Towards Happy Alleys (Sreemoyee Singh) India |

And Towards Happy Alleys
Sreemoyee Singh
India. 2023. 75 min

Fascinated by Iran’s film culture and the poetic works of the feminist poet Forough Farrokhzad, Indian filmmaker Sreemoyee Singh sets out in search of the protagonists of Iranian cinema. The numerous interviews she conducts over a period of six years with filmmakers Jafar Panahi, Mohammad Shirvani and human rights activist Nasrin Sotudeh, among others, show the precarious situation in which critics of the regime find themselves, including the constant threat of imprisonment and being banned from practising their profession. With a keen eye for unusual situations, she documents the effect of the Islamic Republic’s strict and omnipresent censorship on the daily lives of Iranian women whose uncompromising struggle has put them at the forefront of the protests that are currently rocking the country.
And, Towards Happy Alleys is a passionate declaration of love for the cinema and poetry of Iran which also provides a frank view of daily life, and bears witness to a fearless generation raising its voice and implacably demanding its civil liberties.

SREEMOYEE SINGH

Sreemoyee Singh completed her PhD on “The Exiled Filmmaker in Post-Revolution Iran” from the department of Film Studies in Jadavpur University, Kolkata in Feb 2022.
In 2015, she travelled to Iran for the first time inspired by masters
of Iranian cinema like Abbas Kiarostami, Jafar Panahi and Mohsen
Makhmalbaf, who remain an inspiration. This journey led to the
filming of her first feature length documentary And, Towards Happy
Alleys (Be Kucheye Khoshbakht). For this, Sreemoyee learnt
Persian from Dehkhoda Lexicon Institute and Center for Persian
Studies in Tehran. Her in-depth research about the cinema of Iran
and her knowledge of Persian gave her unique access to Iranian
filmmakers, artists, activists, and women who are otherwise wary
of interaction with the media outside. Sreemoyee also worked
as Assistant Professor of Film Studies at St. Joseph’s University,
Bangalore and a Guest Lecturer at New York University, Abu Dhabi
(NYUAD).

DIRECTOR´S NOTE

AND, TOWARDS HAPPY ALLEYS is my first feature length documentary as a director and producer. The journey began in 2012 when I became captivated with the relationship between Iranian cinema and Persian poetry. As an artist and student, I was deeply inspired by the poetic, life-affirming stories told by Iranian filmmakers – their layered narratives were stark rebukes to the stringent censorship of Iran’s Islamic Regime. As my determination to understand Iranian cinema grew, I began an intensive PhD research project that led me to relocate to Iran and learn Persian so I could film the stories of these filmmakers to get a deeper access to the culture. Due to strict surveillance and censorship regulations, Iranians are wary of any interactions with fellow Iranians, the media, or the world outside. As an Indian woman researcher and filmmaker, learning Persian strengthened my position as I was perceived as someone who reciprocated the passions of the Iranian filmmakers and established a dialogue of solidarity with them. This allowed me intimate access to their lives. I built deep creative relationships with the directors, writers, and regular people I filmed. The filmmakers I sought to meet instantly trusted me because of my careful readings of their films, and through work, a new understanding of their histories and their social and creative struggles.

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