Love and Hate in the Time of Snow

In 2014 Amir Hossein Asgari wrote and directed his feature film debut, Borderless, which won awards from a number of international film festivals. Eight years on he has followed that with The Last Snow which debuted at the Fajr Film Festival in Tehran and was nominated for awards in 12 categories, winning the Special Jury Award, Best Actor, Best Cinematography and Best Makeup.

In The Last Snow Amin Hayaee plays Yousef, a vet working in a remote village. He lives alone, having separated from his wife. It is winter time and bitterly cold. Everywhere is covered with snow. We are told that in attempting to rescue animals from a fire, he was badly burnt (as shown by the award-winning makeup). In the opening scene of the film we see Yousef shooting down a wolf. The village’s farmers are up in arms against the wolves who they claim are attacking their sheep. They have vented their anger towards Rana (Ladan Mostofi), a woman environmentalist and animal rights campaigner who is trying the preserve the wolves from becoming extinct in that region. Rana’s number one enemy is Khalil (Majid Salehi), a farmer and close friend of Yousef whose daughter has gone missing and he is concerned and worried about the wolves attacking her, before she can be found by the rescue teams. There are different rumours circulating within villagers as to why she has gone missing. Yousef though is supporting his friend in these hard times. One night Yousef has a surprise visit from Rana who has brought a wounded wolf to him to tend to. When Yousef rejects her request, she reminds him of his medical pledge. This brief personal encounter ignites the first flames of love. Two people who were on the opposite sides of a dispute find a common love for animals and nature, which supersedes their other differences. There are however a few twists in the tale.

The Last Snow is a slow burner, director Amir Hossein Asgari, who also co-wrote the screenplay, takes his time to tell his story, providing just the necessary information to the audience at the required time. With each reveal the story takes on a different outlook and our ethical and moral viewpoints are continuously challenged. This pacing is deliberate and helps us to fully absorb the environment depicted in the film and the motives behind the characters actions and words. All the actors are excellent and Amin Hayaee in particular shines in a difficult role. He has been given just sufficient dialogue to move the story forward and not a sentence more. He has to pass on his inner feelings to the audience mostly through his facial expressions and body movements, in which he succeeds admirably and fully deserved his acting prize. The cinematography by Arman Fiaz also skillfully captures both the snow-covered environment and every little detail that matters on the characters faces. The Last Snow clearly demonstrates that Amir Hossein Asgari is a director to look out for in future.

I spoke to the film’s producer, Hassan Mostafavi.

Ali Moosavi, UniversalCinema Magazine (UM): The Last Snow is not an obviously commercial film, how did you arrange its financing?

Hassan Mostafavi (HM): This is a labour of love. I gathered a number of investors but one by one they pulled out, leaving only two of us. I personally provided 70% of the finance by using all my savings, selling my car and much of my personal belongings. I have no regrets whatsoever though.

(UM): Have you sent the film to any international film festivals?

(HM): I’ve sent it to Cannes Film Festival.

(UM): I think it has a good chance for the Un Certain Regard section, though you can never second guess the preference of the selectors.

(HM): I’m also hoping for acceptance in that section. Let’s see what happens. Experience has shown that to make a good film here you have to go through many difficulties.

(UM): It seems that the filming conditions were also tortuous, with snow, cold, and difficult terrain.

(HM): It was a very difficult film to make. All the long shots that you see in the movies, we had to go up to places that even the mules that we had hired had difficulty getting there. I can also tell you one thing: without Amin Hayaee this film would have never been made. He really believed in this film and turned down many lucrative roles to be in it. He also spent a lot of time preparing, including time spent with a vet.

(UM): How difficult were filming the scenes with the wolves?

(HM): We used real wolves not CGIs. Filming the scenes with the wolves was akin to a separate production. I was present at the scene where Rana is lying down next to a sleeping wolf and the wolf suddenly woke up and it terrified us!

(UM): How was the casting process?

(HM): Amin Hayaee was set from the beginning but we had a tough time finding the other actors. A well-known actress turned down Rana’s role because she felt that the environmentalist was not depicted in a positive way! Another actor turned down Khalil’s role because he didn’t want to work in cold weather! Interestingly, all the actors who turned down the offered roles, later expressed their regret to me.