Today we’d like to introduce you to Arash Maleki.
Hi Arash, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was born in Iran a few years after the Islamic Revolution and raised in a small military base during wartime. It may sound scary but that harsh environment with wild desert nature and minimal resources made me a humble self-learner.
I was so much into action films and there were hardly any Jackie Chan, Van Damme, or Schwarzenegger movies that I would miss. Not to forget, the theological regime of Iran had already banned any kind of foreign movies, so we had to smuggle VHS tapes! which made those movies even more exciting!
One time, mong those action films, I accidentally watched Se7en and I was locked. That film changed my horizons and before the end of the year, I had seen anything made by Fincher, Tarantino, Jarmusch, Kieslowski, Kubrick, etc. There was no way back from there.
I was eager to leave Iran and study Cinema in Paris but considering the mandatory military service in Iran, that process took a while, during which I got my BA in Business Administration in Tehran and started writing for the university newspaper. That writing led me to a part-time job of reviewing films for a few magazines. I also did a bunch of courses in filmmaking in Tehran and while editing my school assignment, I specifically felt a good connection with post-production. I ended up completing a year-long film editing course at the Tehran Center of Technologies, something that we referred to as a boot camp in film editing, and started doing assistant editing on documentaries.
Fast forward, I was already feeling stuck in a closed country and my troubles with the regime authorities were getting more serious, so in 2015 I left Tehran for San Francisco. The Bay Area became my second home and I did my MFA in Film at SF State University. The school environment got me even more into documentaries, where an editor’s real freedom is. I have been editing documentaries ever since with occasional jumps into fiction as editor and director.
My bread and butter though, especially when the pandemic hit, comes from making videos for Google. Coming from a middle-class family and immigrating to a country without connections has taught me to be careful with my safety net. But, I’m still figuring out my path and have some exciting plans for the future which have already started with my move to Los Angeles in 2022.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Well, to me the path was not smooth at all! My family was always tight with money and I could not count on any kind of support from them. From an early age, I learned that I have to be the absolute best at what I do if I want to go anywhere. I had to pass all expectations to be able to have a slight chance.
It sounds empty when you put it into words, but imagine when you are growing up, full of doubt and wonder, you are interested in painting, film, and rock music while pretty much every single person around you for miles was not sharing the same interests. I only succeeded in changing that by taking control of my life and changing my environment, friends, and lifestyle significantly multiple times.
Immigration has been having its own roadblocks. Except for the sudden sense of severe loneliness and culture shock, I’m still struggling with receiving my residency documents. That means not being able to see my family for about eight years. But I try to concentrate on my work and projects and stay optimistic.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m mostly editing documentaries now. That said, I dip my toes in fiction from time to time and I’m eager to do more of that in the future. Hopefully, I can join the editors union or find a good agent so I can concentrate more on film editing.
My partner and I are producing and editing a couple of documentaries together. One is about this little-known multi-billion-dollar collection of modern American art in Tehran and the other one is about the culture of outsider artists in Iran. There are many things the world needs to know about Iran and we both think we should introduce the hidden layers of Iranian society to the outside world.
I also have the privilege to work with my friend Andrés Gallegos on a documentary about the theater experience and how it’s becoming an endangered species. Andrés started from his local film theater which was almost closed during the pandemic and expanded to a whole movement to save historical theaters all over the Bay Area.
I’m also in pre-production of a short fiction film that I’m writing and directing. I have no intention of becoming a writer-director though. Even my film is about an editor!
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
I was fortunate enough to teach editing for some time at SF State University and my suggestion to those students was to avoid getting stuck in a bubble. Mentally and professionally. With Cinema, we have a tendency to limit our understanding and life experience to film and film only. Reading, learning, and experimenting in other fields give us a better perspective on life and creative work.
Contact Info:
- Website: moreequalfilms.com
- Instagram: arash_final08
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/arash-maleki-85a679140
Image Credits
Constanza Havia
