Iranian Film Legend Visits Cinema Studies Class
Lucy Kee
Issue date: 4/30/01 Section: Arts/Entertainment
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The College of Marin campus was honored on Saturday, March 24 by the presence of Iranian film star Behrouz Vossoughi. The actor was a special guest of honor at an Iranian film study class held on March 24 and 31, which screened films by Majid Majididi, Tahmineh Milani, and Abbas Kiarostami among others. The upcoming San Francisco International Film Festival will be honoring Vossoughi as one of “The Unvanquished.” The class visit could not have come at a more opportune time.
Behrouz Vossoughi was Iran’s most acclaimed and recognizable actor in the 1960s and ‘70s, but his association with the royal family and Iran’s old regime forced him out of the country at the onslaught of the revolution. He has since lived in Los Angeles, and now the Bay Area.
Venus Ameh’lli, who is serving as a liaison between Vossoughi and the festival, prepared a brief tape for the class presenting clips from some of Behrouz’s films. The movie served as a great introduction to Vossoughi’s work, and may possibly be screened at the SF festival. Included were Ghaisar, Farar Az Taleh, and many others.
Behrouz asked that the film be shown before he came into the classroom so that the students could “make up their own minds” about him. He then came in and jokingly thanked the audience for “wasting time on my movies.” Vossoughi shared some of his experiences as an actor and answered questions.
Behrouz got started as a young voice-over actor for dubbed foreign language films. Eventually he was asked to try his hand at acting for the camera, which he did with great success. His breakthrough role was in Ghaisar – a landmark film about a man seeking to avenge the rape (and untimely death) of his sister and the subsequent murder of his brother. He agreed with members of the class when he said that the film “changed everything” in terms of Iranian cinema.
Vossoughi mentioned Farar Al Taleh (“Escape From the Trap”) and Nefrin as particular favorites in his career. Sadly, he said that every copy of Nefrin was destroyed by the government and that, “they even burned the negatives.”
Behrouz Vossoughi was Iran’s most acclaimed and recognizable actor in the 1960s and ‘70s, but his association with the royal family and Iran’s old regime forced him out of the country at the onslaught of the revolution. He has since lived in Los Angeles, and now the Bay Area.
Venus Ameh’lli, who is serving as a liaison between Vossoughi and the festival, prepared a brief tape for the class presenting clips from some of Behrouz’s films. The movie served as a great introduction to Vossoughi’s work, and may possibly be screened at the SF festival. Included were Ghaisar, Farar Az Taleh, and many others.
Behrouz asked that the film be shown before he came into the classroom so that the students could “make up their own minds” about him. He then came in and jokingly thanked the audience for “wasting time on my movies.” Vossoughi shared some of his experiences as an actor and answered questions.
Behrouz got started as a young voice-over actor for dubbed foreign language films. Eventually he was asked to try his hand at acting for the camera, which he did with great success. His breakthrough role was in Ghaisar – a landmark film about a man seeking to avenge the rape (and untimely death) of his sister and the subsequent murder of his brother. He agreed with members of the class when he said that the film “changed everything” in terms of Iranian cinema.
Vossoughi mentioned Farar Al Taleh (“Escape From the Trap”) and Nefrin as particular favorites in his career. Sadly, he said that every copy of Nefrin was destroyed by the government and that, “they even burned the negatives.”