Mohammad Hossein Bagherifard is an Iranian documentary filmmaker based in Isfahan. His work primarily focuses on individuals in specific social or professional environments. He made his first film, Night Shift Guys, in 2021, documenting volunteers working in Isfahan during the COVID-19 pandemic.
You studied biomedical engineering before getting into filmmaking. What led you to make this change?
I studied biomedical engineering mainly because I wanted to earn a college degree. But I was always more interested in cinema. After some time, I realized that biomedical engineering wasn’t really for me. Then, during the COVID pandemic, I decided to get into filmmaking. Making my first documentary in Iran wasn’t easy, but in the end, I managed to make Uncle Saeed (2022), which won awards at some film festivals. That’s when I realized my life was going in a different direction.
Your films often focus on people and stories that don’t get much attention. How do you decide what to make a film about?
I believe chance plays an important role. In the case of Uncle Saeed, someone brought a young man to my attention and suggested that his story might make an interesting subject for a film. I believe that if a subject captures my interest, it can also resonate with audiences. Something similar happened with Ava (2025). I was looking for a carpenter, and someone suggested a woman. I found it interesting that she was doing a job that’s usually dominated by men in Iran. That’s how Ava came about.
What interested you most about Ava’s life and work?
I saw a certain paradox in her personality. She’s a woman with a gentle, feminine manner who does work that even some men might struggle with. That contrast caught my attention. Ava works in a carpentry shop alongside other people, and she’s now well known in her field. I wanted to understand how she could work in a job that’s usually seen as men’s work while still being herself as a woman.
How did Ava feel about being filmed at work?
Ava works as a carpenter because she genuinely enjoys it and loves the craft. She was also curious to see how her work would be portrayed in a film. When I proposed the idea to her, she agreed, and we began filming. However, I didn’t want to make a documentary solely about Ava and carpentry. For me, she represents an independent woman who must deal with a lot of challenges, some of which even men might find difficult. This is especially true for women who face discrimination or grow up in families where they’re not given much freedom.
Your films deal with issues like social inequality, working conditions, and pollution. Do you see documentaries mainly as a way to show reality, or can they also help change things?
I believe that documentary filmmakers who focus on social issues should try to change something in the world. For example, when I was making a documentary about air pollution, I could simply have said that the air was polluted. But everyone already knows that. So I had to talk to people who might be able to help find a solution. I wanted to know whether the situation could be changed and what citizens and government institutions could do about it.
With Ava, I wanted to encourage girls and women. I wanted to show them that they could become independent and do things that had previously been out of reach for them. Through Uncle Saeed, we were able to use Saeed’s connections to help turn two private schools in the area into public schools. As a result, children were able to get the education they deserve. I’ve always wanted not just to document events, but to change something as well. My upcoming documentary is called Pink Cancer. It explores e-cigarettes, and I want to raise awareness of their harmful effects.
In Isfahan Without Air (2025), we mostly hear from experts and doctors who explain what’s causing the environmental crisis and how it affects people. You also mention the Clean Air Act and the government institutions responsible for environmental protection. The people responsible for the crisis, however, receive relatively little attention in the film. Why is that? Did you try to speak with them?
I gave prominent experts a platform in the film. But I also spoke with the head of the environmental protection agency, representatives of the city council, and other institutions. Their statements are also included in the documentary. My main goal, however, was to use expert testimony to show that ordinary people aren’t responsible for air pollution in Isfahan. It’s the industrial companies that are responsible because they ignore the Clean Air Act and don’t think it’s important to follow it. I tried to give experts and ordinary people a voice and bring their concerns to the attention of those in positions of responsibility.
In the film, some people in Isfahan wear face masks. Is that because of the air pollution, or was that part of your idea for the film? Or were the masks related to the COVID-19 pandemic?
Most of the documentary was shot after the pandemic had ended, so the masks had nothing to do with COVID. Some scenes were staged, while others captured real-life situations. For example, I gave masks to a girl playing a musical instrument in Naqsh-e Jahan Square and another girl getting on a bus. In these cases, the masks served as a symbol for me. The people I interviewed on the streets, however, were wearing masks of their own accord. As a documentary filmmaker, I believe it’s my duty to show reality as it is.
In Uncle Saeed, you focus on Afghan refugees in Iran. What made you want to make a film about them?
The place where I shot the documentary was just a three-minute drive from an area where everything worked normally and people went about their everyday lives. I wanted to understand why people living just three minutes away didn’t even have access to drinking water. Water had to be brought in by tanker trucks, and they lacked other basic necessities as well.
I was also struck by the fact that people of different nationalities lived together there. They included Afghans, Syrians, Palestinians, Pakistanis, and Iranians. I wanted to document their lives, show the problems they faced, and try to make a positive difference.
One of the problems in the area was the way some charitable organizations provided assistance. Sometimes they gave too little; at other times, they provided so much that people became accustomed to receiving aid and stopped trying to find work. Some organizations also provided assistance mainly to raise their own profile. This disrupted the natural balance within the local community.
I wanted to show that simply giving people clothes isn’t enough. I saw some residents burning donated clothing because they had no use for it. In one house, for example, there were entire sacks of rice, while people in another house had nothing to eat. Another major problem was child labor. The children had no access to education, and their families sent them out to work.
How are migrants generally perceived in Iranian society?
As far as I know, there’s a lot of discussion in Iran about deporting foreigners, undocumented migrants, and similar issues. Personally, though, I believe these people come to Iran seeking refuge for a reason. They may be fleeing poverty or hunger, for example. Unfortunately, there’s also racism against Afghans and Pakistanis. But I believe we’re all human beings and should help one another.
Perhaps the country of origin also plays a role in how foreigners are treated in Iran. As a European, for example, I had an overwhelmingly positive experience with the local people during my stay in Iran. But it seems that Afghans living in Iran may not share that experience.
Yes, that’s exactly right.
How did you manage to gain the trust of people while making Uncle Saeed, considering that many of them may have had difficult and sensitive experiences in their past?
I did two things. First, I relied on Saeed himself, who was highly trusted in the community. I asked him to talk to these people and persuade them to speak on camera. Second, I decided to appear in the film myself. I told them that I would be on camera, too, and tried to put them at ease. I spent time with them and ate with them. All of this helped us build mutual trust. At first, though, many people didn’t want to appear on camera. Some were afraid of the Taliban and didn’t want to speak openly about what its members had done to them.
What would you like people outside Iran to know about Iranian documentaries today? Is there a particular stereotype about Iranian cinema that you’d like to challenge?
In recent years, some good directors in Iran have managed to show the country as it really is. What bothers me most, though, is what I call the black-and-white portrayal of Iran. Films often turn into theater, with everything exaggerated. In my own documentaries, by contrast, I try to show what a particular problem involves. For example, in Isfahan Without Air, I don’t focus solely on pollution; I also show the beauty of the city.
I’m also bothered by the way some foreign films portray Iran. They often exaggerate reality, presenting Iran as a completely gray country that looks like Morocco or Baghdad, and claiming that’s what Iran is really like. But Iran is actually a modern country. I wish we could portray it accurately and show it as it really is.
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