Last Monday’s screening of A Moon for My Father and Lubion, two 2019 films made by the renowned Iranian artist and director Mania Akbari in collaboration with the British sculptor Douglas White, followed by a Q&A masterclass with Mania herself at King’s Conference Centre, was a very happy occasion, bringing together students and the wider community. I’m most grateful to the GWW Centre for hosting through its VIEW programme, to Aberdeen City Council for its Creative Funding backing, and of course to the LLMVC School Office and the AV service team for their first-rate support in making this event a success.
An exile, Mania has lived and worked in London since 2012. The first of her films I saw was her remarkable directorial debut feature 20 Fingers (2004), late-night on Channel 4, way back in 2005. I’ve jumped at the opportunity to return to this underseen film on two occasions on the FVC course ‘Trapped on Film’ since 2018 – a formally and thematically provocative work with riveting performances by Mania and Bijan Daneshmand, which was a firm student favourite on both occasions, stimulating some memorably impassioned seminar discussion.
On Monday evening then, I was extremely privileged to welcome Mania here to share with us her insights into two thought-provoking new films which, like other films of hers I am familiar with, underscore our enduring need for dialogue and communication. A Moon for My Father, which has won multiple plaudits and accolades, is Mania’s latest feature-length work: a daringly personal essay film shot over a four-year period and structured around an exchange of reflective letters between her and Douglas which unveil the process of Mania’s breast reconstruction, Douglas’ coming to terms with the death of his father, and their shared experience of IVF treatment. In the Q&A, Mania explained that their 5-minute short film Lubion, which presents an experimental psychological take on the effect that progesterone injections had on her mental state as she prepared her body for pregnancy, should be considered a part of A Moon for My Father.
In both films, the worlds of Mania and Douglas interweave through meaningful objects which activate traumatic memories. Though these memories are often painful, the poetic, reflective space conjured by dialogue creates the conditions to transform pain and death into joy and life. Various resonances bridge the worlds: Douglas’ palm trees made of tyres transport Mania back to the devastation of the Iran-Iraq War in her formative years. His reminiscence about the skin of an elephant leads her back to her own skin as she prepares for
rgery. His musings on a vast Brazilian ant colony prompt her to connect this object with the process of undergoing hormonal treatment. Ultimately, Mania describes the process of breast reconstruction as sculpture, making explicit the interconnectedness between her world and Douglas’ artistic practice. The film itself becomes like a sculpture of memories and oneiric associations.
These two films, and I hope as much can be said of Monday’s Q&A masterclass, attest to the power of intercultural dialogue in stirring creative and transformative thought. Mania, you said that your body is the body of all Iranian women – this is poetically and powerfully expressed in your work. We look forward to your future projects!
Thank you, Mania and Douglas.
photos courtesy of Brian Stewart
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