The objective of this artistic research has been to reflect on the conditions for filmmakers in Sweden and identify expectations, contradictions and subject positions available for myself within this discursive field. As a point of departure, I use three letters of rejection that I have received during my two years as a student at the Stockholm University of the Arts.
The first rejection centers what experiences can be imagined for me, as an immigrant filmmaker. It juxtaposes experiences made in Iran and Sweden as opposite and impossible to combine. The second rejection is in relation to content and story-telling, which raises questions about translation as a dimension of film production. I this section, I argue that while it is my intention to make experiences of hyper-absurdity in Iran penetrable for an audience in Sweden, too much concern over the audience may deteriorate the artistic process. The third rejection constructs myself and my fellow director as immigrant others, scrutinizing our ability to make a film in Swedish, about Swedish subjects. In this section, I explore the meaning of diaspora and how it shapes the conditions of film production.
The artistic research is summarized in the final section where I suggest a number of strategies forward in order to move away from the taken-for-granted role of immigrant filmmaker(s).
Key concepts: documentary film, diaspora, translation
