What inspired you come up with the idea for the film? Why did you want to tell this story?
The idea of Lögndagen came to my mind at first in 2008. It was the first year that we had moved to Sweden. My wife had started to study a master program in Stockholm, and we together with many other students and couples from all over the world lived in a dormitory and had been in a tricky situation: having no job, financial troubles and worries, being faced with totally new culture, environment, society, and even climate. I was thinking that all these factors could be a potential threat for any relationship. And I was thinking how many of these couples still feel deeply satisfied with their decision and even their relationship, and to what extent they can talk about their worries with each other.
How do you relate to your characters or subjects?
I wrote this story based on my own experiences. As I mentioned I was in a dormitory with several couples and I saw how some of them got in trouble and divorced. Some could handle and some even enjoyed that situation and made their love stronger.
What aspect of the story changed the most during writing and production?
I decided to bring all these reactions into one couple life in my script. And we shot all we had planned.
What was the most courageous decision you or your crew made during production?
It is the cinematography style of the movie. We decided to film POV shots by handheld camera instead of using Steadicam.
Where there any risks that you faced during production and how did you find a way to embrace them?
We had a very tight schedule for our production to keep cost low. The movie was shot in just two weeks. And as I mentioned above using handheld camera could be a risky decision.
What influenced the visual style of the film?
I used POV shots to capture the inner self of the characters. Difference between steady shots and shaky shots could help to distinguish reality from virtual mentality.
What risks did you take to tell your story?
Here in Sweden as a minority filmmaker (producing film in my mother tongue language: Persian) I could not get any found even 1 SEK. Believing that time plus money could result in anything you want, I spent five years on this project to reduce the amount of money I needed. As the production time is the main costly period for my project, I tried to minimize the shooting time. First, I wrote the script in a way that the entire story takes place in one location (Mahyar and Leili’s studio room) in order to skip the transportation and logistics cost. Second, I started to rehearse the script with my actor and actress in order to reduce the number of retakes during the shooting time. After rehearsing the script, I decided to write a stage version of the script to reach the two goals: the first is to develop the script with the use of the actors’ improvisation. Secondly, I can rely on the theatre box office to collect money for the movie production.
How would you encourage others to tell their story or manage through the process of screen writing or film producing?
As I said I believe that you could reach any goal by spending time and money. So, if you think you have a great idea to sell, it is wise to buy it yourself. If your idea is great it is worth to spend time and energy on it. I know you will get disappointed sometimes during this process, no worries try not to give up.
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