Interview | Growing Up Neem-Rooni - Jasmin Mozaffari, Director of Motherland, on Identity in a Problematic Time
Learn Persian with Chai and Conversation
Chai & Conversation
4.9 • 548 Ratings
🗓️ 31 December 2024
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode, Leyla sits down with acclaimed filmmaker Jasmin Mozaffari to discuss her short film Motherland, a poignant exploration of cultural identity, family trauma, and resilience. Jasmin reflects on her upbringing as a neem-rooni (half-Iranian, half-Canadian) in post-9/11 North America, the generational trauma of Iranian immigrants, and how her father’s story during the Iran Hostage Crisis shaped her art. Together, they delve into themes of assimilation, cultural pride, and rediscovering one’s roots.
Jasmin also shares behind-the-scenes insights into Motherland—a film set in 1979 about an Iranian immigrant navigating love and hostility in America—and how the Woman, Life, Freedom movement has deepened her connection with the Iranian diaspora. Plus, learn about her exciting new projects and how she’s using storytelling to bridge generations and cultures.
- Watch Motherland on Vimeo (available until mid-January)
- Follow Motherland on Instagram for updates
- Connect with Jasmin on Instagram: @jasminmozaffari
- Visit Jasmin's website: jasminmozaffari.com
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Learn Persian with Chaiang Conversation, Growing Up Nimrani interview with Jasmine Muzafedi. Salomehamehaghi, welcome to this growing up |
| 0:36.7 | Meen-Runee interview with director Jasmine Muzafetti. |
| 0:40.5 | I'm so excited to share this conversation with you. |
| 0:43.8 | Jasmine recently directed a short film called Motherland. |
| 0:47.4 | It's only 24 minutes long, but I strongly urge everyone to go to Vimeo right now where it is available and watch it. If that changes, |
| 0:56.6 | we'll change it on the screen. If that changes in the future, we will change it on the show notes. |
| 1:02.5 | But for now, it's available and I urge you all to go watch it. It was executive produced by |
| 1:07.2 | Ariyan Moayyed. And it's the story of a couple, an Iranian man and an American woman, |
| 1:14.3 | and their story of going to meet the parents during a Thanksgiving during the Iranian hostage crisis. |
| 1:21.9 | This film has been available to watch for a short period of time, and I've seen that it's |
| 1:26.4 | really connected with viewers. |
| 1:29.2 | I think that a lot of people have similar stories in their families or a lot of people watching |
| 1:34.2 | have been through similar things. So after watching this, I knew I needed to talk to Jasmine. |
| 1:39.8 | I think a lot of you can relate with her. So here's our conversation. Thank you for listening. |
| 1:44.4 | Jasmine Mosefetti, thank you so much for being on the show. Thank you for having me, Leila, John. |
| 1:49.9 | I'm so excited. I've been such a fan of trying conversation for years. Oh, that's so nice. Well, first, |
| 1:57.7 | how do you usually pronounce your name, your last name when you're doing interviews and things? |
| 2:03.0 | You know, it's the Western way. I grew up just saying Jasmine Mozaffari, which is not really the proper way to say it. But it's funny. Like, the sounds are not different. Like, you know, there is the a sound in English. |
| 2:19.5 | It's strange that we have to like change it to an awe sound. I don't know why all the names are like that. |
| 2:25.2 | I know exactly. And I guess like I think my father just wanted us to fit in so much. So we just, |
| 2:31.5 | he never was like pronounce it right, you know? So. Right. And his name was Bob back, right? So we just, he never was like, pronounce it right, you know. |
| 2:39.2 | Right. And his name was Bob back, right? Yeah. So then how would he pronounce that or what was his name when he was introducing himself? He called himself Bob. He introduced himself as Bob to make |
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