All The Time: Hearing that her teenage sister is planning to commit suicide, Toranj is in limbo not knowing how to react…
It Turns Blue: Pari covers up domestic violence when her brother beats up his 3 years old daughter.

Shadi Karamroudi

Biography: Shadi Karamroudi is an Iranian actress and filmmaker born in 1990 in Tehran. She began her artistic career in 2013 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music performance from the University of Art in Tehran and a master’s degree in dramatic literature from Sooreh University. Notable acting credits include films such as Fish and Cat (2013), A Very Ordinary Citizen (2015), Axing (2018), Pinto (2020), and Without Her (2022). As a filmmaker, her short film All The Time (2020) participated in prestigious festivals like the Busan International Film Festival, Freiburg Film Festival, Flickers Rhode Island International Film Festival, and Sao Paulo International Short Film Festival, winning awards for Best Screenplay and Best Sound at the Tehran Short Film Festival and Best Direction and Best Film at the Ten Short Film Festival. Her second short film, It Turns Blue (2022), has been showcased at numerous Oscar-accredited festivals, including South by Southwest Film Festival, Florida Film Festival, Busan Short Film Festival, Brussels Short Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Raindance Film Festival, and Tirana Film Festival. The film won several awards, including the Grand Jury Prize at the South by Southwest Film Festival, the Grand Prix at the Busan International Short Film Festival, the Mikeldi Award at the Zinebi Film Festival, and the Best International Film Award at the Izmir International Short Film Festival. Karamroudi recently completed her first feature screenplay titled I Can Hear Your Whispering in 2023 and with this script, she received an invitation to attend the Berlinale Talent Camps and Script Station in 2024.

Redcut: First, please explain how you decided to become a filmmaker as an actress and how you conveyed your role in the film All The Time by acting in front of the camera.

Shadi: I actually started acting and filmmaking almost simultaneously! My first short film, Ava at the age of Twelve, was produced in 2013, shortly after I first appeared in front of the camera in Fish and Cat. It took about seven years to make another film, during which I was fully occupied with acting. The reason I resumed filmmaking was due to an urgent need to visually capture ideas and stories that wouldn’t leave me. For me, cinema was the best medium to document these tales.

Redcut: In All The Time, we encounter a story where “suicide” is introduced at the beginning, and throughout the film, the duality and contradiction between the reality of contemplating suicide and deceit linger. In a way, we don’t know if the teenage girl intends to commit suicide or if it’s a joke that’s been taken seriously. How did you establish this theme of suicide and the possibility of jumping from a height by the teenage girl, leading to an open-ended conclusion?

Shadi: I believe that the central story of my film is not about Tara’s (the younger sister’s) potential suicide but rather Toranj’s (the older sister’s) confrontation with that possibility. At the beginning of the film, Toranj doesn’t believe Tara’s decision, but gradually, the thought of suicide preoccupies her mind, bringing her to a point where she can empathize with Tara’s decision. This empathy with such a destructive choice frightens Toranj, leading her to realize that Tara might not be joking. Therefore, in my opinion, the film has not an open ending; it concludes when Toranj begins to believe in Tara’s potential suicide.

Redcut: How did you decide to appear as both the director and the actress “Toranj” in this film? Did being the actress of your own story simplify the process? You designed the character yourself, making it more accessible for you to convey Toranj’s anxiety and moments without excessive theatrics, allowing us to resonate with her throughout.

Shadi: From the beginning of writing the screenplay, I intended to act in front of the camera. My goal with this challenging decision was to eliminate any intermediaries between the actor and the character, directly linking the role to the actress. This choice allowed me to shape the character as I was acting, enabling me to develop both simultaneously from the start. Although it made directing quite challenging for me, it led to a new understanding of acting and character development.

Redcut: In It Turns Blue, we confront domestic violence. A father punishes his child, and we see the marks of punishment on the child’s body. Domestic violence and the abuse of a child under five, which we as viewers are aware of, while the father tries to hide the abuse from the child’s mother, whom he is separated from. How did the idea of domestic violence and the father’s efforts to conceal this act manifest in your mind? Is it not a symbol and warning of unsafe homes and relationships lacking security for our future generations?
Shadi: The initial idea for the film came from a news story that struck me; a student was beaten by a teacher at a school, and throughout the day, the school principal tries to cover up the traces of violence so that the student’s mother does not discover the severity of the situation.

The principal’s efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, and the news was eventually revealed by the student’s mother. Before the violent act by the teacher caught my attention, it was the principal’s attempts to cover up this violence that shocked me. I believe this concealment perpetuates the cycle of violence, which is why I decided to center this issue in my film.

Redcut: In the film, we see an aunt who is also a product of domestic violence, with wounds on her hands that never heal, trying to cover up the signs of abuse on the little girl’s body. In this scene, we encounter two generations, the aunt and the child, both subjected to patriarchal violence. The scar left on the woman’s hand symbolizes the unhealed wounds of a feminine history that cannot be erased from women’s bodies. Even if the little girl’s wounds might heal, they will never be forgotten from her memory, “even if the father tries to make her forget.” What kind of connection do you see between the scar-body relationship of women and patriarchy in your film?
Shadi: Pari is a victim of a patriarchal system, and the wound on her body testifies to the suffering she has endured. However, as a key player in this patriarchal system, she conceals the violence inflicted on the child. Pari and Raha (the child), as representatives of two different generations, confront each other when Raha uses her voice to narrate the violence she has experienced in the most eloquent manner, while Pari employs the same tool of language to hide the violence and alienate the child. In my view, these wounds are products of patriarchal “thinking” and will not heal unless they are narratively exposed without fear.

Redcut: The cinematography in both films significantly contributes to conveying their content. The coloring and visual structure advance the story with a unique visual aesthetic. Did you consider the images while writing the script, or did you finalize the visuals after completing the screenplay?
Shadi: The images in my mind are a product of the screenplay. I usually conduct extensive pre-production for my films and, with the help of the director of photography, I arrive at the film’s visual language. This visual language later permeates everything, from set design and costume design to scene lighting. This shared visual language helps me and my team make decisions about various aspects of the film.

Redcut: Do you have any projects in the works, or are you writing something? Please tell us about your future project.
Shadi: Currently, I am busy rewriting my feature screenplay and brainstorming for my next short film. This year, I participated in the Script Station of the Berlinale Talent Camp with my feature screenplay titled I Can Hear Your Whispering and managed to rewrite the script with the help of the festival’s mentors, arriving at new versions. I will continue this rewriting until I am completely satisfied with the screenplay.