Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Jumping Through Hoops in a Society on Valium
h e nuts and bolts of i lming in Iran were challenging. Our 12-day Iran
shoot included Tehran, Esfahan, Shiraz, and Persepolis. I traveled with my
typical skeleton crew of three: Simon Grii th (director), Karel Bauer (cam-
eraman), and me. We also had the help of two Iranian guides: One was an
Iranian-American friend who lives in Seattle. h e other was appointed by
the Iranian government to be with us at all times. h
is combination was
interesting...and tricky.
Traveling through Iran as a i lm crew presented us with some unique
hurdles. On the i rst day, we dropped by the foreign press oi ce to get our
press badges. A beautiful and properly covered woman took mug shots for
our badges and carefully coni rmed the pronunciation of our names in order
to transliterate them into Farsi.
h e travel agency—overseen by the “Ministry of Islamic Guidance”—
assigned us what they called a “guide,” but what I'd call a “government minder.”
Our guide/minder, Seyed, was required to follow our big camera wherever
it went—even if that meant climbing on the back of a motorcycle taxi to
follow our cameraman
as he i lmed a “point-of-
view” shot through wild
trai c. When he wasn't
holding on for dear life,
Seyed slipped a tiny cam-
era out of his pocket and
documented our shoot
by i lming us as we i lmed
Iran.
While this sounds
constraining, Seye proved
to be a big help to our
production. Whenever
we i lmed a place of com-
mercial or religious importance, a plainclothes security guard would appear.
h en we'd wait around while Seyed explained who we were and what we
were doing. No single authority was in charge—many arms of government
overlapped and made rules that conl icted with each other. Seyed made our
i lming possible...or told us when it wasn't.
Our guide Seyed was expected to follow our camera at
all times. Hang on tight and follow that taxi!
