Interviews // Aryasb Feiz (Tomorrow)

I Heart Noise spoke with filmmaker Aryasb Feiz who is the director, writer, producer, and animation supervisor of the animated short film, Tomorrow. Despite some technical difficulties, we were able to have a conversation about his work on the film and what he hopes people will take away from the heartfelt film.

I Heart Noise: That’s amazing. So how did you come up with the idea for this film?

Aryasb Feiz: Yeah, the idea for this film actually came to me when one of my colleagues told us how he had to buy illegal medicine for his son. It was a lifesaving medicine, and he had to buy it in black market. And I always wondered about this issue that how far can be and will be go for our loved ones and how this and about the ambiguity of morality in these situations. So we wrote a film about a young boy who is poor and he has to face these difficult decisions every day.

I Heart Noise: It was such a moving film. It’s truly and beautifully done. How did you decide not to have anyone speak during the film?

Aryasb Feiz: The decision was that we made because we wanted it to reach a global audience. And it’s always better to do, to do it dialogue-less. But it was more challenging for me to tell a story without any dialogue. It makes it longer the film. To reach the bigger audiences. And I think it’s a little bit more sincere when you don’t have any dialogue. People could believe it more.

I Heart Noise: How is the animation done?

Aryasb Feiz: I have an animation studio called BadStash in Tehran. I had it. It’s closed now. And we had many artists working on this film throughout, I think, five years. And it’s really difficult to make animation because you have to make everything. You have to design every street, every tree, every clothes, every character. You can’t just put actors and just make…put your camera on the street and record anything you see. So, it’s challenging. But on the other way, on the other side of it, it’s better, actually, because you are making a board for this particular story, and everything is designed for this story. For example, in the environment and in the sets. We made the set a little big, we made it huge, actually, for the child. So, he has to reach for everything. Because we wanted to tell the audience that this is not a proper place for a child. This shouldn’t have happened anywhere. When you make this work for this story, you can make changes. If you are the God of this world, you can make this sun go backward, for example.

I Heart Noise: Where can people watch this film?

Aryasb Feiz Right now we are talking also right now we are talking to distributors and hopefully this will be in the streaming services. But I think in a couple of weeks it will be available on YouTube for a short period before the Oscar, Oscar announcement of the shorts list and after that. And they can watch it if they are in Miami. It’s screening in Miami Short Film Festival in a couple of weeks.

I Heart Noise: Awesome! Congratulations on that!

Aryasb Feiz: Thank you very much.

I Heart Noise: So what other work or other films have you done? Is this your first film?

Aryasb Feiz: No, it is the first film that I started. But in between this, between this project, we made another short film. It’s a two-minute short film called Mr. Indifferent and it went viral around the world. A lot of people have seen it. It’s about kindness. It’s available on YouTube. Everyone can see it. And it’s part of the education curriculum of a lot of countries right now in South America, in North America. I’ve heard that teachers in New York are showing it to students, to children in their writing classes.

I Heart Noise: That’s great. So how did you end up as in this career? How did you end up as a film director? Creator?

Aryasb Feiz: My journey started when I collaborated with two college friends to make a short film, an experimental short film. And then I edited two music videos for another friend. So, I was captivated by editing. I really liked it. And I was a character animator for a few years when then I was approached by someone, and they gave me project. I had to direct a trailer for a 20-minute film. So, it was the first time that I had to really think about directing and telling a story. And I loved it. When I started my animation studio, the first project that we wanted to make was this short film and I was the director.

I Heart Noise: Awesome. Do you have any advice for people who want to get into filmmaking?

Aryasb Feiz: I don’t like to give advice really, but I think the best advice that I got was to don’t overthink it, just make it. Especially your first and second films, because at those initial films, you learn a lot about the craft. Don’t overthink it. And don’t try to make a perfect film or an amazing film. Just try to make a film. That’s it.

I Heart Noise: I like that. What do you hope people will take away from this film?

Aryasb Feiz: I hope that it will be seen, you know, by a lot of people so I can continue my career as a director and can find finances for my future projects. But for this particular film, the goal was to show the people, the struggles of our people in Iran and in this part of the world, and the effect that it has on children, because politics are seriously hurting children in these parts, and this is not right.