In January this year and at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, I had the opportunity of meeting Eline Farideh Koning , the main character in Finding Farideh, Iranian documentary film, in person.
Eline Farideh was quite enthusiastic about being part of making this important documentary, representing Iran in 2020 Oscars. After a successful and full house screening of Finding Farideh, I interviewed Eline Farideh on camera:
“Finding Farideh” is a feature-length documentary about an Iranian girl named Farideh, who had been abandoned in a holy shrine in Iran when she was 6 months old in 1976, and then she got adopted by a Dutch couple and left Iran to the Netherlands to start her new life. Her parents promised to take her to Iran when she turns 18, but it never happened because they always thought that Iran is a dangerous country to go. Now, she overcomes her fears and starts a personal journey to her motherland Iran for the first time to meet three families who claim to be her biological family and to find out about her Iranian identity and culture.
Directors:
Azadeh Moussavi:
In 1980, I was born in Tehran. I got B.A. in Directing from Cinema & Theatre Faculty of Tehran University of Arts. I started working as the Assistant Director and Script Advisor in a couple of short and feature fictions and documentary films and I have directed two short fictions and one short documentary film so far. My last film in collaboration with Kourosh Ataee, was a mid-length documentary titled “From Iran,A Separation” which participated in different festivals around the world and received some awards. “Finding Farideh” is our first feature documentary film.
Kourosh Ataee
Born in 1990 in Bojnurd, Iran, he started his career as a filmmaker when attending the film making courses of Iran’s Young Cinema Society in 2007. He also got a B.A in film directing and a M.A in dramatic literature from the Cinema & Theatre Faculty of Tehran University of Arts. After some experiences in making short films and working as an assistant director in a couple of short and long features and TV series, he continued his career with a focus on documentary films and he has directed a mid-length documentary titled “From Iran,A Separation” in 2013, and a feature documentary titiled “Finding Farideh” in 2018, which both were acclaimed in different festivals around the world and received some awards. Also, he is member of association of Iranian documentary producers.
