Luna Shad

[Rasputin]

As one of the beautiful faces of VOA Persian Service, Luna Shad hosts the Cultural Magazine Shabahang that is followed by millions of viewers worldwide and in Iran thanks to Satellite Dishes and online filters. Hosted by Luna Shad during the week and by Behnood Mokri on weekends, Shabahang blends news with in-depth reports and medical updates, along with features on developments in science and technology, entertainment, movie reviews, social issues, cultural features, legal issues, and sports. I got to learn about her show by a happy coincidence after being reached for an interview to talk about the rising Iranian-American film community and for a cultural event I was helping to promote in Europe.

Being wary of most Iranian TV productions in America particularly in LA where mediocrity and ideological propaganda co-exist, I was on the contrary positively surprised by discovering the programs of VOA-Persian that greatly reminded me of the best hours of Iranian Television before the Revolution based on rich content, a communicative enthusiasm and respect for its viewers. Main host Luna Shad and co-presenters and columnists like the excellent film critic and commentator Behnam Nateghi give an overview of not only Iranian Arts but more generally of the Arts on a global basis. They certainly contribute to getting Iranians out of our cultural ghetto by giving voice to known and unknown Iranian Artists of the Diaspora who are bridging stronger ties with the American and European Arts Community.

Very much like our online magazine PersianMirror, Shabahang succeeds in introducing Diaspora Artists to Iranians back home and vice versa. In an age where Art seems to play a more efficient role in rallying Iranians than politics, Shabahang’s constructive approach has drawn attention of filmmakers from Iran such as Jafar Panahi, or Shahrokh Bahrololumi, to name a few, who eagerly accept to be on the Show to promote their films. Not surprising then to learn that the beautiful Luna Shad collaborated with Abbas Kiarostami for an Art video installation entitled Sleepers at the prestigious Venice Biennale in 2000.

She has also played in one of the latest films of the other Iranian Maestro Mohsen Makhmalbaf (Kandahar, Salam Cinema) in the much expected Scream of the Ants and a short sequence from the latter titled The Chair . She has also modeled for a Washington D.C. based conceptual artist Negar Assari-Samimi whose work will be presented soon at an Iranian Women Conference in D.C.

Tell us about your background and how you came to work for VOA?



LUNA SHAD: I’m 35 years old and I left Iran in 1984 at age of 12. After my high school degree in philosophy at the Lycée Honore de Balzac, I studied International business in Paris and worked three years at the back office stock exchange of a bank at Neuilly-Sur-Sein. Then one day, at the age of 28, I got fed up with the hectic pace of my job and decided to try something else. But I had no idea of what! I just knew what I did not want to do! Fortunately happy circumstances made me meet the right people to get my feet into the theater.

So I took private classes for a year with a French actor and director Yves Pignot who at the time was director and teacher of “L’Ecole Superieure d’Art Dramatique de la ville de Paris”. Yves Pignot has also been coaching actors like, Luc Besson’s Star Jean Reno (Léon, DA VINCI CODE). From there on I met other people which led me to my first serious Arts project with Abbas Kiarostami (Editor’s note: See SR Interview). That ultimately led me to what I am doing today. VOA has been an excellent school for me; I have done everything here from TV production to journalism.

How many people work on Shabahang and how long has it been on air? What is the average age and background of your viewers?



LS: Shabahang started airing nine months ago and we are approximately twenty people involved on this show. It is actually the daily version of another cultural magazine which I hosted and produced for two years called “Next Chapter”. The Magazine normally targets young Iranians aged between 16 to 30 years but our polls, emails and feedback indicate that we have viewers of all ages ranging from 4 to 80. Shabahang is a truly a healthy and distracting program that can be watched by everyone in the family and nearly everyone follows us. A wonderful young team works everyday on this show, and I think the taboo of “Iranians don’t do Team work” is now broken thanks to Shabahang. Next Chapter was followed by two and half million viewers, but Shabahang has at least doubled that figure. We have an excellent feedback and it is said that it is one of the most popular shows in Iran.



You seem particularly fond of French Culture and “Art de Vivre”? Do you see any difference between Iranians in America and those in Europe particularly in the Arts community or amongst Diaspora Artists in general?



LS: I grew up in France and my French side does come across often in my work because my personality was somehow shaped in that country and my role models are French. (I have also been often criticized to pronounce “Sarkozy” and “Royale”, with a French accent). Art, culture and philosophy are truly part of our daily lives in France and often for the most simple things. In France “culture” comes to you whereas in the U.S you have to go after it. But the analytical and critical French spirit can sometimes also make things more complicated than they are. Americans have a very different way of living and thinking. It’s easier for them to “Take it easy” and even this expression doesn’t exist in French. But from the very start an Iranian who chooses to live in France despite the difficulties is very different from one who chooses to live in the US. Their mentalities are very different. As far as Iranian artists are concerned I have seen artists having succeeded in the US who will never make it in Europe. In France however, to be an artist, is to be “one amongst millions of others who can be much better than you”.

What explains in your opinion the increase of interest in music, film or other Art forms amongst Iranians today particularly for those in Iran, where for generations scientific backgrounds and academic education were seen more of a priority ?



LS: Well under a dictatorial regime, Art and Culture, take huge proportions and become vital and necessary. It is without doubt an undisputed form of expressing oneself and probably a shelter when the world that surrounds you does not quite respond to your spiritual needs. This probably explains the incredible thirst for Art since the advent of the Islamic Revolution.



Unlike most LA based Satellite TV’s where, VOA Persian Service is very successful amongst Iranians everywhere. Also Iranians from all political spheres rush to be interviewed on your station. How have you managed to achieve where most so-called “opposition” TV’s which beam into Iran have failed?



LS: I truly believe that honesty, objectivity and the respect for the viewers are the keys to success for any media. Our viewers are extremely intelligent, and for my part, I have never tried to underestimate them. The viewers like to be respected. As far as political personalities are concerned, it is obvious that they wish to be heard through a media that is reliable, respectable and which can make a difference. This makes our task much more difficult because as journalists we have to be careful to what message is delivered and not to be manipulated by the opportunity that is given to them. What truly is important is that the basic rules of journalism be respected.



How do you see the future of Iranian Diaspora TV as a medium, particularly with the rise of interest in the Middle East and competition between Al-Jazeera (English) that offer an alternative view to CNN?

[Rasputin]

LS: This competition can only help us grow and become better. I am confident in the future and the wide possibilities that VOA’s channels provide to the viewers.



What are the things you like most about America and what don’t you like or gets on your nerves about America and Americans?

LS: On the professional basis, the US is truly a “Land of Opportunities”. Here if you truly have some talent, they open the doors. On a personal level however, I should say that the Life quality I was able to have in France for “less”, I certainly don’t have it here for “more”. I hate it when in a restaurant for instance, the server asks me for the 20th time is “Everything is OK?” I also don’t like it when they repeat the menu by heart and you don’t understand a thing. What I do like however is this genuine naivety and honest simplicity that you do not see that often elsewhere today.

You recently played in two films directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the Iranian new wave film Maestro. How did you get involved particularly with Scream of the Ants?



LS: I played in The Scream of the Ant. The Chair is just a short version, actually a sequence of the previous film that was screened at the Short Film festival of Clermont Ferrant. To play in the feature film however, I was chosen upon a photo a year before the shooting began. Then I had to audition in Paris and was the last on a list of 200 people. I corresponded to the image of the girl that the director had in mind and my screen-test went well. The Scream of the Ants is the story of a couple that goes on a spiritual journey to India in search of the Truth, but once there, they go separate ways. It’s a spiritual journey as much as philosophical. The Set was truly magnificent.



What kind of director is Makhmalbaf ? Unlike Kiarostami, he seems to have a difficult reputation, was it hard to work with him?

LS: It is a long story which I am actually writing so I really can’t answer this question entirely. What I can say though is that Makhmalbaf is an acute director. He notices every detail. I also worked with Kiarostami (My first film: The Sleepers). There is a huge world between both of them, and the way each of them works is naturally influenced by their own cultural backgrounds.



Makhmalbaf explores the human condition in his film but also breaks new ground with some sensual but poetically powerful nude scenes of you. How did he convince you to play the scene?



LS: I have just one nude scene in the film, the other scenes were those of a young Indian lady who plays a prostitute. You cannot refuse to be naked if it is for the sake of Art, be it for real or symbolically. That said, the way this was asked from me and the way it really took place are two entirely different stories.


Do you see parallels between your acting and journalism?



LS: Oh absolutely, in my case, one has always helped the other. We are asked to be pretty, full of energy and agreeable at a specific time of the day and five times a week: This is where my training as an actress becomes useful. You can imagine that one cannot be nor wants to be at the Top all the time, but when the viewers expect you to be lively and joyful you kind of have to forget yourself and I think that the best actors are those who are able to forget themselves completely.



Who are the actors, directors you admire or would like to work with?

LS: There are several directors I would like to work with, older ones like Dariush Mehrjui and younger ones like Mehran Modiri whom I love the humoristic eye. I am a great fan of Realist Cinema, French cinema particularly. One of my favorite directors in America is Woody Allen but in France I would say Agnès Jaoui and Cédric Klapisch. In my dreams I certainly think I am playing in one of their films.



Any other films in the waiting? Are you tempted by directing your own film?



LS: No nothing for the time being, just a play maybe but nothing is still certain. Also like for my previous films, I let things come to me; I don’t like to push things. If things come my way, all the better, if they don’t well it’s not the end of the World. I have tons of other art projects and would love to create something that would entirely depend on me. My companion and I are currently working on the construction of my official website called www.lunashadmagazine.com. The fact is that the Film World is a world without pity! This is precisely why I chose not to depend on it entirely.



“Half of the World is Isfahan”, so goes the saying. Do you miss your hometown? Have you had the opportunity to go back?

LS: I have spent 23 years of my life outside and have been back to Iran only six times in all. Despite my “Esfahani” accent that I have never quite lost and which has become my label now, I only miss Isfahan as a tourist, it’s a magnificent city. But when I usually go back to “my home” it’s not to Isfahan but I am very proud of being born in one of the most beautiful city in the world.

What would you take with you on a desert island?



LS: My Laptop with an internet connection!

[IQ]

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