Binoche and Kiarostami, “Creativity against repression”
"When repression grows, so does creativity", says Juliette Binoche from the Tuscan set of the latest film by Abbas Kiarostami, Copia Conforme. The Iranian director is wrapping up shooting while in Tehran the police are once again attacking opposition supporters.
"This film is a form of resistance for Abbas", says the French actress, who stars in a film that will never be shown in Iran and will circulate secretly on DVD, like all of Kiarostami’s recent works.
Produced by Marin Karmitz for MK2, the first film shot by Kiarostami outside of Iran is also backed by Italy’s Bi Bi Film, run by Angelo Barbagallo, and France 3 Cinéma, and received support from Canal +, the French National Film Center and the Tuscany Film Commission.
The DoP is Italy’s Luca Bigazzi, a multiple award-winner for his work on films such as Il Divo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nicola Giuliano
interview: Paolo Sorrentino
interview: Philippe Desandre
film profile] and Romanzo Criminale [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michele Placido
film profile].
Copia Conforme centres on English writer James (baritone William Shimell making his acting debut), who meets a French gallery owner upon the Italian publication of his latest book, on the close ties between an original and a copy in art. Reality and fiction will blend in the relationship between the two.
When Kiarostami is asked whether a film can change reality, he answers, "It can change the hearts and minds of those who watch it” as his gaze returns to two monitors – one of which contains images of his film, the other which serves to follow the dramatic events in Iran on the Internet.
(Translated from Italian)
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