Interview with Shahabeddin Hosseinpour director of "Adrift" movie

What was your motivation for making the film?

I was a theater director for about 18 years, after making several short films, I wanted to show my ability in the medium of feature films, and with an attractive and expensive script, I made a movie with a medium budget.

How did the idea of the film come to you?

The incident in the movie happened to us for real and one of my dear friends passed away because of the impact of this incident, we decided to turn this event into a movie. 

What is your main goal of filmmaking in Iran?

My goal, both in theater production and film production, is to create awareness and thought among people, and I tried to make a pathology of a part of society in every film and story. My effort has been to report on the state of the country's development to officials and managers at the national and international levels, and I have helped the people in this way. 

How concerned is the subject of the movie and why did you choose this one?

The reason for my choice is partly because of the true story, and the other concern was to express how sometimes we hurt each other unintentionally and how much we are together but we do not see each other loneliness. we cannot have proper help and support for each other, and Sometimes we hurt ourselves and others with wrong decisions. And besides the economic and social pressures in society, the lack of cultural space can be devastating to social life. 

How did you come to these cast and crew and what are your criteria for selection?

Due to the hard conditions of Corona era and the lack of sufficient funds, I invited my theater group to be with me in this experience, almost 70% of the film crew are from my theater group. we have been working together for more than ten years. I tried to choose among my friends who helped the believability of the role, and the other ones were added to us in the technical part and behind the scenes. And I tried my best to choose the crew who both help the quality of the work and are sympathetic and whose goal is more to produce a work of art than to gain income. 

What were the Problems with the film production?

Our main problem was the lack of budget, which made our work very difficult and caused us to shorten the filming time, which caused fatigue, and the filming hours, which were sometimes up to 14 hours instead of 8 hours a day. The next issue was the pandemic when many people were dying daily in the world and Iran, and we tried to make the film with our quarantine. After the production, we had problems like censorship of the work and broadcasting license, and it took several months to get the necessary licenses. Of course, the censor caused damage to the film. Even now, our concern is to be able to return part of the budget through the public screening of the film and its presence in festivals.

Tell us about the positive points and good memories in making, producing, writing the script, finding the crew or any other subject that can inspire the filmmakers?

The empathy and unity of the group members was the best thing about making this movie. We chose a beach complex for the location and we were together for a month and had good experiences. According to the words of my good teacher, Hamid Samandarian, a professor of theater directing in Iran, "If an artist has the skin of a rhinoceros, he will achieve everything with effort and perseverance". In a situation where the relevant authorities do not support the artists and all of us are facing a serious problem of job security and most of them are depressed because of this, with unity and double efforts, it is hard but possible to have artistic productions.

Tell us about the film funding and the challenges?

We had many basic problems with the budget and the film was funded with the help of relatives and friends. Unfortunately, the conditions of filmmaking in Iran are such that neither government funds are considered for independent filmmakers, nor investors are sure about the return on their investment, and finding investors is very difficult. Also, finding a sponsor is very difficult due to the lack of advertising support.

What are your expectations of your movie?

The film was made under very difficult conditions, a lot of effort was put into it but it was made with love. My vision is that many people will be able to see this film and get to know our minds so that our team can also step into the international arena. We tried to respect the audience and if there is a problem, it is because of the limitations inside Iran.

Anything else you want to talk about?

As a director, I wish that my plays and films are seen and that I can communicate with the world through art, and I wish that now that we are not supported inside Iran, international companies can provide this support. I have a big theater coming up, which is the life of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht, and I have a movie with a special story called A Better Life. I hope these two projects will be supported so that we can present these works to the people of the world in the best possible way.