First film by Mazdak Mirabedini, FOOTWORK (2017), is an indie Iranian film in its essence. Different in form from any product in Iranian mainstream and art film industries (even in casting; even in the opening with a lengthy medium shot of a young couple sitting in a car, back to the camera), it focuses on none of the controversial, contempo issues – such as immigration, regional tensions, problematic lives of artists and filmmakers, financial crisis, etc. – affecting the lives of its central characters. It does not trap the whole thing in the box of a conventional, simplistic story, desperately trying to over exaggerate all the misfortunes of the people. It makes a miniature painting of a big city called Tehran. It seems that each scene is shaped as a detail in a gigantic tableau of the modern metropolis. In each detail, the city is depicted as a hiding place for vulnerable, helpless people fearing that betrayal and dishonesty will be exterminating their lives; as a ring for the exhausted individuals challenging a cruel, savage contender called life.

In such a composition, it is more important to lay out the shots in a bigger frame rather than to make counterpoints with them. So instead of the rhythm of the events, it is vital to capture the expressive moments in the lives of the individuals – such moments as the picture of the lonely man remembering the past and talking to their beloved ones, looking at the vast landscape of the city; and two fragile women understanding each other and sitting on the steps in the nocturnal silence of the street. In FOOTWORK, life of a city is reflected in the lives of its inhabitants. Meanwhile the film is enhanced by the rhythmic pieces formed on formalist concepts of montage, mostly accompanied by some kind of a fusion of occidental and Iranian music. Thus the film finds a way to give an overall view to the circus of the real estates in the big city; and to track down the main character wandering around the streets searching for all his lost hopes.

K.