WHAT’S THE STORY?

VISITING Forres for the first time, Iranian director Kaweh Modiri was startled when a local man wandered out a pub and started speaking Arabic to him. Unfortunately, although Modiri speaks five languages, Arabic is not one of them but he was impressed by the man’s intriguing stories.

The friendliness of the locals struck him so much, in fact, he decided to set his first feature film in the town using residents as the cast.

The result — Bodkin Ras — is to receive its first Scottish premiere at Glasgow Film Festival (GFF) this month after garnering a number of high profile awards at film festivals around the world.

“It started as a crazy project to set a story in an actual place using real people from that place playing themselves in a fictional story,” he told The National. “It seemed like a crazy dream and to see it after five years of work is amazing. It was a very special experience also to go through it with the local cast and I am thrilled that the cast — who to me are legendary — are going to come down to Glasgow to the premiere.”

The film has been described as “extraordinary” by Bero Beyer, director of the International Film Festival Rotterdam. “The fascinating interplay of the real life characters gives this beautiful hybrid film a magical touch. It’s a very refreshing project,” he said.

WHY FORRES?

MODIRI, whose family escaped Iran as political refugees when he was a small boy, initially went to Forres to visit a friend.

“When I was there I was struck by the landscape, the light and the architecture and started imagining setting a story there particularly as it is such a small town and everyone knows each other,” he said. “I got to know them after one man started talking to me in Arabic — it was just such a strange experience meeting him in this fashion.”

Modiri then met more of his eventual cast, people who mainly all hang out in the same pub. “They were amazing to work with as they are men who have gone through a lot but still have a tremendous sense of humour. There is a tragicomic element to the characters that is very beautiful.”

The only acted character in the film is Bodkin Ras, played by Modiri’s childhood friend Sohrab Bayat, whom he met when his family fled to Turkey. Bodkin arrives in the town on the run, and the film explores the reactions of the real inhabitants of the town towards the arrival of the mysterious incomer.

WHO ELSE IS INVOLVED?

THE film is co-produced by independent Belgian company Inti Films and independent Scottish company Blue Iris Films.

Scottish co-producer Katie Crook said making the movie was very different from other film shoots.

“As soon as we arrived in Forres, we were basically getting involved in the local life, making friends so that we really knew who to approach to be in the film,” she said. “Kaweh gained the locals’ trust and respect and we went from there. It was unlike any other film shoot, in that the shooting schedule was very fluid and we had to be quick on our feet as live events occurred.”

She added: “It was lots of fun and everyone is still close. We see the Forres actors often and try to get them involved in the festival run as much as possible.”

The film first screened at International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), where it won the prestigious FIPRESCI Award, and then won the Making Way Prize and the Grand Jury Prize at the Netia Off Camera Film Festival in Warsaw.

Bodkin Ras then screened at Mammoth Lakes Film Festival, where the film won the Jury Prize.

ANY OTHER AWARDS?

IN September Bodkin Ras began its theatrical distribution in the Netherlands, with sell-out screenings at the innovative Eye Film Institute in Amsterdam. The film was widely lauded by the Dutch press. It was also screened at the Viennale where it won its second FIPRESCI Jury prize for Best Film.

Its last outing was at the Bosphorous Film Festival in Istanbul where it managed to pick up the prize for Best Director.

Modiri previously earned critical acclaim and a René Coelho Award for his short film My Burglar and I, which screened at the IFFR in 2011, in which he documented the life of his burglar — against the wishes of the subject.

“He got caught and when I got my laptop back I found he had left hours and hours of footage of himself on it so I used it for my graduation film from the Rietzeld Academy in Amsterdam,” explained Modiri.

He has also written a novel based on his experiences of fleeing Iran in the middle of the Iran/Iraq War in 1988. “We left when I was five, ten years after the revolution when the Islamic regime was in power.

“My parents tried to escape a few times and one of my earliest memories is waking up in middle of the night with my clothes on, then leaving home.

“That time we were making for the Soviet Union but we were captured after a week and sent back.”

The family finally made it to Turkey where they stayed for nine months before being invited as political refugees to the Netherlands.

“When we arrived we were welcomed at the airport with flowers,” remembered Modiri.

The film-maker will attend the Scottish premiere of Bodkin Ras on February 24. There is also a second screening at the CCA on February 25 at 3.45pm.

“This film is shot in the UK, with a largely UK cast, dealing with social issues that are highly relevant to the current state of affairs in the UK and I am very excited about showing the film in Glasgow, finally to its home audience,” said Modiri.

Tickets are available from the GFF website.