Linking the region's film industries

Tandees Tanavoli is an Iranian writer and producer who recently launched the Dubai-based Tandees Enterprises at the Toronto Film Festival. The media conglomerate will include Bonyan Films, a production company, and Ypsilon Agency, the first talent and management agency of its kind to be established in the Middle East.

I've wanted to work in films since I was 10. My father, who is a sculptor, was worried about me getting into the arts field because it's difficult to make a living. I went to a private film school in Tehran, though, to see if I liked it, and I ended up being pretty good at it. My parents saw this and told me to go for it. Later, I studied film at the Vancouver Film School. I wanted to be a director, but my teachers told me I would be better suited to writing and producing.

Living through a war definitely changed the way I look at the world. I saw decent people having to do certain things to survive. It taught me not to make judgements on people based on their actions. When I'm writing with my colleagues, I look at things differently to them. I can look beyond the issue at hand and see what caused it to happen.

No. One of my biggest problems is that I can never do things twice. Once I start writing, if someone asks me to make changes, I make so many, it becomes a completely different film. My first draft has to be my last draft.

I've always been writing about things that happen in the Middle East and it seemed like a natural progression in my career. The UAE is a perfect world, where it's safe and East meets West. Everyone else is telling our stories, so we might as well tell them ourselves.

I think what Dubai and Abu Dhabi are doing in terms of training and education is great. There are a lot of good movies coming out of the Middle East now and I think the UAE is going to play a great role. They will have the facilities to compete on a global scale.

Everyone here (at the Toronto Film Festival) is talking about it. I think it's great. There are so many good projects that they will be able to help fund.

Not really. None of the scripts we've read so far and been interested in have touched on anything political or sensitive. Hollywood chooses to make films about war, but we don't have to.

We're interested in everything from action fantasy to romantic comedy. The most important thing is that our films must contain elements from the Middle East, whether it's the actors, the crew or both. We also intend to premier all of our films at festivals in the UAE. But it's important that while creating a strong local industry, we need to make a name in the global market as well.

At the moment, none of the film industries in the Middle East are connected. If you're from Lebanon and want to make a film in the UAE, it's very difficult to find the people required to help you do that. We want to represent cast and crew from the region as well as those of Middle Eastern origin based elsewhere in the world, so that all the industries are linked. We're planning on launching a "virtual" agency in October, which will be more like a social networking/business site, which will be great for new people coming up in the business to see what people are up to. And we've also set up a physical agency in Dubai. Hollywood are very interested in featuring Middle Eastern stars; it's a whole new market for them. We need Middle Eastern icons on a global level but the only people who can get us there is us.
@email:kboucher@thenational.ae