DIRECTOR SPOTLIGHTSoore Vahe
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What inspired you to explore the theme of fragmented understanding in Conflict of Meanings? How do you see this theme connecting to today’s world?
We often speak the same words and talk about a word or perhaps a feeling like love, like sorrow, but everyone has their own interpretation. For me, this gave meaning to the conflict of meanings. In today’s world, we are also entangled in this; we all talk about peace, love, sorrow, happiness, all of these, but they do not have the same meaning. For everyone, it has a different meaning, which I tried to explore here in the conflict of meanings regarding love, and to show how different love is for two people. Two people who are even in love, meaning they are so close. Two people who are in love, how much they differ in understanding love, and one of them, at the end of the film, gives one interpretation of love, while another gives a different interpretation.
We often speak the same words and talk about a word or perhaps a feeling like love, like sorrow, but everyone has their own interpretation. For me, this gave meaning to the conflict of meanings. In today’s world, we are also entangled in this; we all talk about peace, love, sorrow, happiness, all of these, but they do not have the same meaning. For everyone, it has a different meaning, which I tried to explore here in the conflict of meanings regarding love, and to show how different love is for two people. Two people who are even in love, meaning they are so close. Two people who are in love, how much they differ in understanding love, and one of them, at the end of the film, gives one interpretation of love, while another gives a different interpretation.
How did you use visuals and sound to convey the metaphor of the Tower of Babel in your film?
As we know, the myth of the Tower of Babel is based on the origin of different languages. After the flood of Noah, people spoke a single language. As they moved eastward and reached Babel, they agreed to build a tall tower to prevent the diversity of languages. It is said that God, fearing that humanity would become monolingual and thus unstoppable in their desires, came down and introduced different languages so that people would not understand each other and would be scattered across the earth. For me, this symbol of the Tower of Babel is tangible in these visuals and sounds. I even say that even if the language were the same, as I mentioned earlier, we have different approaches in our interpretation of words and meanings. I tried to bring this into the sound, the voice-over in the work, and narrate one thing in the image and another in the sound, showing that even words cannot reach mutual apperception and perhaps the word itself is the misunderstanding.
As we know, the myth of the Tower of Babel is based on the origin of different languages. After the flood of Noah, people spoke a single language. As they moved eastward and reached Babel, they agreed to build a tall tower to prevent the diversity of languages. It is said that God, fearing that humanity would become monolingual and thus unstoppable in their desires, came down and introduced different languages so that people would not understand each other and would be scattered across the earth. For me, this symbol of the Tower of Babel is tangible in these visuals and sounds. I even say that even if the language were the same, as I mentioned earlier, we have different approaches in our interpretation of words and meanings. I tried to bring this into the sound, the voice-over in the work, and narrate one thing in the image and another in the sound, showing that even words cannot reach mutual apperception and perhaps the word itself is the misunderstanding.
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How has your background in theatre and your education at Tehran University shaped your approach to experimental filmmaking?
Studying theater was an exciting event in my life, offering a unique opportunity, but studying at the University of Tehran was an even more distinct experience. It opened many doors for me and shaped a new approach. Perhaps this is where the discussion of experimental cinema or experimental filmmaking that has developed comes into play. |
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If I were to elaborate on this, the architecture of the University of Tehran is such that above, there is theater, below, there is music, next to us are sculptures, and on the other side is architecture. Perhaps this connection with various arts, even though our faculty is literature and on the other side is law, may have led me to a new perspective and understanding. If I had only been at a university focused solely on the arts, I might not have reached this point. However, I believe this has had a significant impact on me; I encountered different viewpoints, got very close to literature, which I love, and the theater and performance have always been topics of great interest to me. I am very passionate about it. In addition to my love for staged theater, I have a deep affection for street theater, performance art, and placard theater because they have a direct connection with the people, and I believe that is very different.
I think experimental filmmaking is similar in this respect; it establishes a direct connection with people’s emotions—not to tell a narrative, but perhaps to evoke, generate, or understand a certain feeling. A feeling that might once again lead to a misunderstanding of the word or narrative. That’s why my interest in experimental film arose; perhaps it allows me to be more myself and discover my own emotions within it.
I think experimental filmmaking is similar in this respect; it establishes a direct connection with people’s emotions—not to tell a narrative, but perhaps to evoke, generate, or understand a certain feeling. A feeling that might once again lead to a misunderstanding of the word or narrative. That’s why my interest in experimental film arose; perhaps it allows me to be more myself and discover my own emotions within it.
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Was there a specific moment during the making of the film that shifted your perspective on the subjectivity of words and meanings?
There isn’t a specific moment in the film that I can point to; perhaps it comes from poetry. Throughout my film, I use a poem by Sohrab Sepehri, which talks about two people interpreting the word “in the grip of”. One says it means being in love and interprets the poem, as saying “in the grip of” means being in love, now think about it and everything. Another says “in the grip of” means a collision, or confrontation, interpreting the word in its dictionary sense. These two interpretations exist, and, when I read this poem and was talking with the writer of the work, my friend Jaber Manzari, we both had this in mind: what does “in the grip of” mean? What does it mean to you? What does it mean to me? That’s why our voices are in the work. Perhaps the idea of the film originated from here, as we were discussing what it means to be “in the grip of”. |
What does it mean to be “in the grip of”? We were thinking about whether people, even when speaking freely and openly about a topic like being involved or love, would still reach a common understanding or not. This literature, which becomes our specific literature, perhaps comes from our culture and poetry. We have something called simile, where we compare, for example, a tall tree to the height of our beloved. This happens, and “in the grip of” is the same here.
Does “in the grip of” mean collision, infected, or does it mean falling in love? Is falling in love itself an infection? Does it contain other words within it, or is it a word with an independent meaning? Depending on how you look at it, your way of living might differ from your way of thinking. If you see “in the grip of” being in love, you live one way and if you see it as collision and confrontation, you live another way. The event in the film, when the character is cooling themselves with a fan, holding it like a child, this image represents madness for me. Even escaping the heat of love requires madness, and you are “in the grip of” it. “In the grip of” the same heat, the same wind that is coming. Perhaps it all started from the first images and thinking about the subject of being “in the grip of” and reading that poem.
Does “in the grip of” mean collision, infected, or does it mean falling in love? Is falling in love itself an infection? Does it contain other words within it, or is it a word with an independent meaning? Depending on how you look at it, your way of living might differ from your way of thinking. If you see “in the grip of” being in love, you live one way and if you see it as collision and confrontation, you live another way. The event in the film, when the character is cooling themselves with a fan, holding it like a child, this image represents madness for me. Even escaping the heat of love requires madness, and you are “in the grip of” it. “In the grip of” the same heat, the same wind that is coming. Perhaps it all started from the first images and thinking about the subject of being “in the grip of” and reading that poem.
What message do you hope audiences take away from Conflict of Meanings? Do you believe it can inspire reflection or connection?
I prefer that the audience in this film feels an emotion instead of receiving a message. I want to awaken a feeling within them, perhaps prompting questions, or maybe just allowing them to feel something good and become immersed in that emotion. This feeling can be good or bad I don’t know, and I don’t want the audience to appreciate this as good or bad. I want them, after watching this film, to see how they feel and to consider whether they have thought that perhaps words like “in the grip of” and “love” have two different meanings or not.
I prefer that the audience in this film feels an emotion instead of receiving a message. I want to awaken a feeling within them, perhaps prompting questions, or maybe just allowing them to feel something good and become immersed in that emotion. This feeling can be good or bad I don’t know, and I don’t want the audience to appreciate this as good or bad. I want them, after watching this film, to see how they feel and to consider whether they have thought that perhaps words like “in the grip of” and “love” have two different meanings or not.
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Soore Vahe was born in Tehran. She graduated from theatre at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Tehran University.
You can find more about her work here : https://soorevahe.com/ |
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