Rediscovery of Nasrat Karimi After 43 Years of Censorship; 'With This Film, I Become Immortal'

The documentary 'Nasrat Karimi' has been released for free online and has become a hot topic among cultural and artistic circles; a six-part documentary titled 'Nasrat Karimi: Being an Artist in Iran' that took 19 years to produce, resulting from the joint efforts of his son Babak Karimi, an international filmmaker and actor, his son-in-law Mehrdad Eskuei, a renowned documentary filmmaker, and the well-known editor Rouhollah Ansari. In an interview with Radio Farda, Babak Karimi states that this documentary is a tribute to Nasrat Karimi, replacing the statues often erected to commemorate great figures; it narrates the extraordinary and storied life of Nasrat Karimi in his own words, relying on countless unseen documents, films, and photographs he preserved. The February 1979 Revolution had many victims among filmmakers, but Nasrat Karimi had a unique situation; a prominent and beloved director, actor, writer, makeup artist, and sculptor, he was imprisoned after the revolution for a film he made seven years prior, facing not only imprisonment but also a sentence of 'amputation of his right hand and execution.' Ultimately, his 'non-political nature alongside his popularity' helped him survive. Nasrat Karimi was never again allowed to work as an actor or director in cinema, and his image was banned and remained so, but he did not give up and was so versatile that, as he himself stated, he survived by using the thorns of the cacti he cultivated and continued to work silently and diligently on short films, animations, and sculptures. Despite all this, the six-part documentary 'Nasrat Karimi,' released on the occasion of his hundredth birthday, is not only a narration of his life in his own words and those of other artists but also a recounting of a hundred years of modern theater history, puppet cinema, Iranian cinema, and the times that passed for the people and artists before and after the revolution. Ferdowsi described the greatness and glory of his work by saying, 'From now on, I do not die, for I am alive / For the seed of my words is scattered.' In the final years of his 95-year life, in this documentary, which he believed would make him immortal, he says, 'I will not die from now on / For I am alive / Like the seed of the illustrated I am scattered.' In an interview with Babak Karimi, we first asked him about the 19-year process of making this documentary, where it started, and what role Nasrat Karimi played in it. Babak Karimi: The work started mostly under pressure from those around us. We thought we would do something one day, but practically, Mehrdad Eskuei and I were busy with our own projects. At one point, several of my father's acquaintances passed away, and among my father's friends, there was someone who lived next to us who insisted on documenting my father's memories and repeated this at gatherings. This pressure kept increasing, and we witnessed more people passing away around my father. That’s when we started the work. It was decided that Mehrdad, who is an expert at conducting interviews, would do the interviews, and I would edit. My father had no role in the structure of the documentary; he did not say what to do or not to do, except for a couple of scenes where he could be heard saying to place the camera here or there. He was generally obedient, knowing that another person was the director and he should not speak. However, over the years, I showed him all the stages and different versions. In the end, on the day we recorded the music, I recorded it with my mobile and took it home for him to listen to. He had no specific comments about the structure of the documentary, but he was happy. I even remember once when he was watching the animation part, he was crying, and we had to stop at one point because he felt unwell. Nasrat Karimi was arrested after the 1979 Revolution for writing and directing the film 'Mahalel' and was on the verge of execution. In making this documentary, you were involved not only as Nasrat Karimi's son but also as a filmmaker. Alongside you is Mehrdad Eskuei, who has an outstanding record in documentary filmmaking. It is rare to have a combination of family ties and artistic skill come together to create a work about a beloved artist. How did you both direct this documentary together? The combination created for making this film was very unique, and I doubt it will be repeated. On one hand, there is Nasrat Karimi's character, and on the other, his ability to narrate and the brilliant form of his life and the documents he has kept for all these years. These brought a very strange weight to the film. The fact that his son, who is me, is also in cinema, having edited for 25 years and inherited my love for cinema from my father, along with his son-in-law Mehrdad, who is an outstanding documentary filmmaker, makes this combination very rare. We worked in a ping-pong manner. On many things, our opinions were not always the same; we had many discussions and worked on different versions. Initially, I started editing, but I found it very difficult because I am a ruthless editor and cut out any frame that is extra mercilessly, but in this case, I couldn't, because every time I cut something, I felt like I was cutting off a finger of my father. I realized it was not possible, and this work needed someone outside of us, which is where Rouhollah Ansari came in and brought a very good energy because he was separate from us and became a sort of balancing point between me and Mehrdad, and we saw some brilliant solutions from him that can also be observed in the editing. Babak Karimi alongside his father Nasrat Karimi. The making of this documentary certainly had personal aspects for you; were there sweet or difficult moments or situations? For me, the most beautiful part of making this documentary was searching for and finding documents, films, and photographs, which was astonishing for me. During the making of this film, I discovered my father as well. Many people who have seen the film say they have just discovered Nasrat Karimi. I had heard many stories since childhood, then I went to live in Italy and was practically not beside my father, so I knew many of the stories in fragments. This documentary was also a journey of father and son for me. Every child has to do this with their father's figure one day, and this happened for me through making this film. The decision to release this documentary online for free was certainly a big and perhaps difficult decision, especially since you emphasized that its production received no financial support from anywhere. What led you to decide to make it available to the public for free and directly? Often, to commemorate great figures, a large bronze statue is made, and a plaque is placed, which is just a tribute to that important person. With this documentary, we wanted to do something similar. We had contacts with some platforms, both inside and outside the country, but we saw that they did not understand the dimensions of the matter at all, and for example, they said to create a one-hour or two-hour version, while the dimensions of this film and this person require a six-part documentary. A tailor should sew the clothes to fit the person, not make the person fit the clothes. Ultimately, we saw it was not possible. In addition, unfortunately, and for reasons you know, a space has now been created where everyone must answer to someone else. We saw that whether inside or outside the country, if we relied on a platform, they would say to remove this part or change that part. Nasrat Karimi asked for nothing from anyone for forty years and did his work and did not get involved in these games; how could we involve him in these games at the end of his life? Therefore, the best way to present it so that not a single frame of this film is altered and remains forever without the possibility of misuse was to publish it on YouTube. We are very happy about this, and people have understood it. Go see the comments from people; it is truly astonishing. This series is not only a narration of the life of a renowned artist like Nasrat Karimi but also a form of social, cultural, and political historiography in an artistic structure. Was there any topic you avoided discussing in this documentary or wanted to be cautious about? No, there was no topic we did not want to talk about. Nasrat Karimi himself defined everything very clearly and in the simplest and most honest way, with all the documents and evidence. There was nothing we wanted to be cautious about. It has now been about a month since the release of the first episode and one day since the release of the last episode of this documentary. How has the public reception been so far? I thank you for the wave of affection that has arisen after the release of the documentary. We anticipated a level of reception, as Nasrat Karimi was a beloved figure among the people, but we truly did not expect it to be this much. We were very surprised at how someone who has not even appeared on screens for so many years could be so beloved, especially among the younger generation.