TEHRAN |
TEHRAN (Reuters) - A movie depicting a nervous U.S. soldier accidentally shooting a little girl during a night raid on her home in Iraq might not be every American's idea of a possible Oscar winner.
The fact that it was written and directed by an Iranian makes "Farewell Baghdad," the gritty story of Americans in Iraq, even more controversial.
Despite, or perhaps because of that, it is Iran's official entry for the 2011 Academy Awards, something its 37-year-old director says is the subject of "misunderstanding."
"There are people who think I have been paid a lot of money to make this movie for the Iranian government. It's clear to me that those people have not watched the film," Mehdi Naderi said.
Far from being state propaganda, Naderi says his film, which explores the motivation and doubts of both U.S. soldiers and Iraqi insurgents, was made in the face of unhelpful pressure from the authorities and on a shoestring budget.
"The budget for Farewell Bagdad can be compared to what Sean Penn spends on his cigarettes or what Nicole Kidman spends for a small part of her make-up," he told Reuters in an interview in a Tehran coffee shop.
The movie follows Polish-American Daniel, a failed boxer who signs up to the army and finds himself on tense foot patrols in Iraq. After a comrade accidentally shoots a little girl in her home, both men leave their base and take off into the desert.
Daniel's life is eventually saved by Saleh, a would-be suicide bomber who hates Americans but reluctantly feels compelled to help another lost soul.
SOFT WAR
Given Iran's 30-year enmity with the United States, which is often referred to as the "Great Satan," a movie from here about Washington's long and painful engagement in neighboring Iraq might be assumed to portray Americans as the villains, oppressing a fellow Muslim nation.
But Farewell Bagdad does not paint a simplistic picture of Americans as the bad guys. Daniel is shown as a regular guy struggling to come to terms with the violent, alien environment in which he finds himself.
"I don't want my film to be seen as a tool of soft war against the West," Naderi said, urging viewers to look beyond the politics and see the human story where both sides, Iraqis and Americans, can learn to be friends, even in extreme circumstances.
Filmmaking is a tricky business in Iran where the government keeps a close eye on political content and checks to ensure Islamic norms, such as women's dress code, are respected.
The state has increased its pressure on filmmakers since last year's disputed presidential election which was followed by the biggest street protests since the 1979 revolution which ushered in the world's first Islamic Republic.
"It took six years to get the permission to make this film and we changed the script about 18 times to satisfy officials," Naderi said. "I want to show how an Iranian filmmaker can make a movie without any financial support in less than two months from a country with lots of rules and censorships."
