The filmmaking team behind “Cast Aside the Clouds” includes, (L-R) co-director Felicia Sobhani, production designer Houman Eshraghi, director, writer and producer Mary Darling, co-director Bre Vader, and director of photography Behnood Dadfar. The feature film, inspired by the novel “Youtab Memoir,” explores love, faith and religious persecution in Iran and will have its Northern California premiere Oct. 23 at the Orinda Theatre.
A feature film inspired by a novel in the form of a memoir about love and religious persecution in Iran will make its Northern California premiere Oct. 23 at the Orinda Theatre, bringing its director, screenwriters, producers and cast members to the city for a post-screening discussion.
“Cast Aside the Clouds” follows Layla, a Bahá’í woman, and Sasan, a Muslim man from a conservative background, as they navigate love and faith in a society dealing with religious prejudice.
One of the film producers’ goals was separating fact from propaganda.
“Our aim was to shed light on these differences and allow audiences to discover the truth through the lives of our characters,” said film producer and director Mary Darling. “It is important to remember that the Iranian government, with its control over the country’s media, has spread accusations and falsehoods about the Bahá’í community, scapegoating its members without giving them any meaningful opportunity to respond. Both the novel “Youtab Memoir” and the film present facts that challenge these baseless accusations and allow audiences to see the humanity and lived experience of the Bahá’ís for themselves.”
The premiere is scheduled for 7 p.m. Oct. 23, followed by additional screenings Oct. 24 through 29. A question-and-answer session with members of the filmmaking team will follow the premiere screening.
The film was inspired by the novel “Youtab Memoir,” written by Massoud Fanaieyan’s sister, Rouhieh Fanaian. Fanaieyan, also the book’s publisher, lives in Orinda and helped bring the film to the theater.
Because the book is written as the main character’s daily recollections, Darling and her husband, Clark Donnelly, reimagined its central story and themes for the screen.
The book took about a year to write and went through several revisions, Fanaieyan said. During that time, his sister interviewed people connected to the Bahá’í Institute for Higher Education, an underground university, after some of its professors were arrested. She wanted the story to reflect what people had experienced, Fanaieyan added.
Darling said their journey from screenplay to finished film took about five years. They researched the subject extensively, interviewed people who had spent years in Tehran’s Evin Prison and consulted professionals to help ensure the story was told authentically. The script continued to evolve during filming in Athens.
One challenge, Darling said, was depicting persecution honestly without allowing it to overwhelm the love and humanity at the story’s center. The production also involved obtaining footage from inside Iran and safely transferring it to Scotland, where she completed post-production.
Darling said she wanted Layla to be seen as a whole person, not simply a symbol of persecution.
During her perseverance in spite of trials and harsh interrogation Layla shows what Darling described as “constructive resilience.”
The film also follows Sasan as he questions beliefs inherited from his family and society. Darling hopes audiences will consider which assumptions they have accepted without question and whether they are willing to reconsider them.
“I hope audiences see that love can help us question inherited prejudice and recognize one another’s shared humanity,” Darling said.
Fanaieyan hopes the film will raise awareness of the persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran, where they are the largest non-Muslim religious minority, he said. He described the film as both entertaining and an opportunity to bring attention to a subject that receives limited news coverage.
“The Bahá’í faith offers a new vision of religion suited to an interconnected world,” explained Darling. “Founded in 19th-century Persia by Bahá’u’lláh, it teaches that humanity is one family and that all major religions come from the same divine source. Their differences reflect the needs of different times, while their spiritual foundations remain united.”
Darling added, “Bahá’ís believe religion should foster peace, equality, justice, education and harmony between science and faith. With no clergy, communities make decisions through elected institutions and consultation. At its heart is a hopeful conviction that humanity is maturing, and that together we can build a peaceful, just and unified global civilization for everyone today.”
The film has screened in New York, Beverly Hills, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Toronto and Hamilton, with Vancouver planned next, Darling said.
Living in Orinda for more than 30 years, Fanaieyan said bringing the film to Orinda holds special significance.
Tickets and screening information are available at www.castasidetheclouds.com and Rouhieh Fanaian’s novel ,“Youtab Memoir” can be found on Amazon.com here a.co/d/02q3qG9x.
