Filming exile: An analysis of the making of colours of exile

Abstract

The last few decades have seen an astonishing increase in the number of people displaced from their homelands due to wars, economic crises, political persecution, and or dictator-ran states. People of all ages, economic status and occupations, have been forced out of their countries and into new and paradoxical contexts where they are no longer in life-threatening situations, but at the same time they meet new and difficult challenges. Some of them have dealt with these challenges through their art. As a filmmaker in exile myself, I feel compelled to use my craft to raise awareness about this subject and its personal and social struggles. I am not the first nor the only one in my position, as I have learned through my years in exile. Such was the genesis of Colours of Exile, a personal yet choral documentary film dealing with the experiences and thoughts of a wide array of Iranian artists in exile. This thesis examines the making of Colours of Exile, while at the same time discussing the deep implications of the important concepts and social processes the film addresses. I explore the relationship between exile and the construction of identity, and also differentiate the several kinds of population movements, in order to delineate the specificities of exiles as opposed to migrants, refugees, and so on. Moreover, I am interested in describing the effects and impact exile has on the creative work of filmmakers, both from a ‘third person’ perspective and examining how some of them have dealt with it in their lives and in their work. Finally, an important distinction will be made between what I call ‘external’ and ‘internal’ exile, as the two situations can be compared in many aspects, while carrying distinct connotations. The conclusions will state the complex and paradoxical nature of exile, and summarise the ways in which exiles have adapted to the new situations while attempting to deal with the pain and tribulations it caused them.