2. LITTLE ITALY (ROUND TRIP) 103
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DIARY
In Ambasciata mi dicono: porta le cassette quando
vuoi.Di fronte al cancello sbarrato e al solito frammento
espressivo di carabiniere, dopo circa una settimana,
mi dicono: ora non c’è nessuno, ripassa domani.
Arrivare in Ambasciata col materiale è stato
mentalmente faticoso. L’ipotesi di poter essere fermati
per strada ci spinge a chiamare un taxi, da casa.
A quanto pare c’è una compagnia più sicura delle
altre, e il rischio di essere fermati per strada è più alto
di quello di incontrare un tassista già informato sul
nostro caso.
Salgo sul taxi.
Il taxista telefona a qualcuno.
MI guardo intorno.
Lui mi guarda.
Poi guarda lo zaino.
Dico solo la via.
Forse mi conviene scendere per prenderne un altro,
ma sarebbe sospetto, e probabilmente mi seguirebbe.
C’è traffico.
Khomeyni mi gaurda dai muri di sabbia inquinata
degIi edifici di Ferdozi street.
Arriviamo.
Mi fa un gesto cono le dita per indicarmi il prezzo.
E’ circa il doppio delle normali tariffe.
Pago senza discutere.
Scendo.
Aspetto che se ne va, prima di muovermi in direzione
dell’Ambasciata.
Mi guarda dallo specchietto retrovisore.
Aspetto.
Mi guardo intorno.
Poca gente.
E’ una delle giornate più calde da quando siamo
arrivati. Sono circa le 2:30 PM.
ONE WEEK BEFORE THE ELECTION/ 10:53 AM
3. MOODS. FEW DAYS LATER
DIARY
– I don't know if it’s just an emotional spot I'm feeling just with the hard-disks. And we said we gonna
right now because I was sick the last couple of days put them back to their original pockets by gluing
and maybe that's way I'm feeling so drain of energy. them, as they weren't never opened. But I'm scared
But, on the other hand, if I feel the same for a much for the future. You've just bought a micro
longer period, and in this context a couple of days webcam to make hidden footage in the street
is already a longer period, I mean. We are doing too with your laptop on your back. And you said you
many things that, we are lying to everybody. wanna put the cam under a chador while dressing
– Why? it in the middle of Vanak square.
– For example right now Arash just asked you if you – I don't know if I'm going to support you.
take footage from last night, and the reason why –
he's asking is because he’s afraid because he – We have to take care of each other.
knows if you take footage of the election this is – And of the other people around us.
going to jeopardize his safety ‘cause he knows – We both said we don't want to put others in danger
we’re going to bring the footage here, at his flat. but I'm not sure if we’re able to do that. If we
He kicked us out two weeks ago because of this gonna stay here doing the same things we did
afety issue, that he was afraid for him and for until now. There were many incidents like having
Tara's safety. How many days ago you got caught footage of people they didn't agree on. And there
by the police, maybe three? And you know, com’on, are some people they would not be happy by
he’s member of a group of activists making assembly knowing their faces are closed to faces of
every week to speak aboutIranian politics other people involved in the campaign, criticizing
– We’ll never be able to shot them. He said that he Ahmadinejad and all the political structure of the
doesn’t want us to record his voice. Even the voice. country.
– I'm not enjoying, I'm not. There's a big risk for us. – And still we don't know the real amount of risk for
There's a big risk for the people we’ve been with us and for them, I mean, if it’s just a big shared
we’re with and we’ll be with. The point is these paranoia cloud which is over all of us, or if the
people should be aware of the risks they're running, danger is real, it's so closed.
that means they should know if we’re following the – Anyway everybody knows the election is the
election or not. background of the documentary, Anybody can
– Everything inside me is saying that I should go, you imagine.
know. But I'm not sure if you, at the same time, – It's not true. Going less outside, this last couple of
if you’re capable to stop. And we’re here together. days, make me feel worst, because I had time to
– And right now I'm feeling quite safe, you know, reflect, you know. We don't know what will going to
we’ve almost all the footage captured on hard- be, but I know there's no way we’ll not get carried
disks and we gave te tapes to the Embassy and we away. There's no way. It's not possible.
can leave the country clean, in a way. I mean
4. FEW DAYS BEFORE THE ELECTION 105
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DIARY
Di nuovo nelle topaie vicino al Bazar, lontano Because we have shit they don't want us to bring – Why we are doing this?
da tutti. out of their country, and that's what we’re trying – If it would have been possible to follow Mohamed
Eppure c'è qualcosa che mi prende lo stomaco e to do. and his wife for a month I would have been really
mi dice che bisogna stare, e che non è una scelta. – We have shit that is compromising to everyone, good. Even if it could have been really dangerous.
Che si può rischiare ancora un pizzico. Che molti dei to the government, to the people involved in the Because they would have agree with us, taking part
ragionamenti sono fantasie generate dalla paura e project, to ourselves. of the risk on their shoulders. But this double-triple
dai racconti che abbiamo sentito, e dal tipo di persone – And nobody knows until which point. gaming, this is the tuff part I don’t like.
che frequentiamo più spesso, gli Americani-Iraniani, – They trust us exactly because they don't know. – But once you said it would have been too dangerous
la lobby che prenderà il potere politico in mano dopo That's while they're helping us. to follow Mohamed.
la caduta del regime Islamico, chissà quando. – The bottom line is we are putting many people in – Just private settings, and maybe once at the time
Che non vuole assolutamente esporsi, ora. danger, and I consider myself a spy. doing some streets footage. This would have made
Che teorizza la battaglia tra le mura di casa propria, – me feel really good ‘cause we would have been
scendendo di rado nella strada. Che pratica la propria – Not in my perception but in their perception. taking a risk they would have known.– We both
guerra politica nel mercato. Si può ancora stare. – They're pushing us to behave like that. spoke about the possibility of change the focus
Ma per chi, per cosa. Non siamo nella battaglia come – Sure. from the Western-Iranians to the Election campaign
gli altri. Non è la nostra guerra. Eppure c'è qualcosa –Just mentally. and you said it was too dangerous.
che mi blocca qui, ma cosa. La voglia di raccontarla? – Probably. – Yes. Now we’re doing the contrary. Following the
La voglia di sentirsi parte? O voglio solo tornare a – Yes. Western-Iranians and doing time by time the
casa con qualcosa da dire? Egoismo narcisista? – The risk is not illusionary. The risk is there. What they Election characters. But I’m not comfortable. If we’re
Avidità? Eppure. Eppure c'è la voglia di viverla, pushed us to think is that we have been followed. going to swap at least I'll be able to justify myself
di farla fino in fondo, questa esperienza. Right now I'm not thinking I'm followed. What I'm that I'm in a mission.
La responsabilità sugli altri.ancora un pizzico. Per thinking right now is just that right now, in the next – The probability of getting caught by swapping will
cosa? Il materiale? La cosa più importante, ora, è couple of weeks, there’s the chance and the risk to raise.
salvare il materiale che abbiamo, e andare avanti be caught, and you've been already caught once. – Now we have an agreement with the Embassy for
potrebbe essere rischioso. What I'm saying is the approach is still not sticking the footage.
with the facts we are facing. Even though it was – But now we're doing nothing. We’re just in the circuit
– Me and you being under suspicious of being a spy. really unlucky that you were caught. of paranoia.
This didn't make sense to me, but now it makes. – It's incredible how I'm being affected by the – I'm still thinking about what could have happened
If we are under suspiciousnow, if we have been situation. that night, when you call me from three different
followed, if we gonna be caught. – And how we’re reacting. phones, when in the morning I hid all tapes in the
This makes sense now. – We should soon start the encryption part of the job, common basement of Emad's house, while you
– We are living as spies, trying to cover our traces. locking the hard-disks and passwording the files were waiting outside the Embassy to understand
– What we are doing now is not wrong according to and so on. what to do.
the law, according to, but actually it's wrong in many – Tonight we will finish the capturing of the missing – What’s inside that still is pushing us to go on? I don't
aspects, many points, concerning many topics. ones. know where it is from. You're true, when you said that
BAAZAR/ 3:54 AM
5. DIARY
I'm probably someone who’s going to recognize the I’m saying. It's so less mentally tiring to communicate
border from the other side, while saying ok, now it's with images.
too late. And there's no way to justify that. – Instead of thinking, analazying, commenting,
– The only reason I can justify myself is because there writing.
are so many opportunities that the best things have – How many days to the Election? Six days.Today is
still to come. But I'm also aware that to record the saturday. The next friday.
best things, well, in order to do that, we have to take – Six days.Today is saturday. The next friday.
even bigger risks. – Probably the most dangerous part will be the going
– That night, when I was sleeping in the stairs of the out.
hotel ‘cause anybody accepted me inside without – No. why?
the passport, while I was calling you, imaging all the – Is it more dangerous to stay here? We’re not in danger
people involved, I felt all the way on my shoulders here if we're not gonna be stupid. But going away
the weight of the shit we’re doing, I said ok. It's with everything, imagine. With the bus, going and
off, that's the point. Why now I'm still here with the going and going and after the border and there
intention of going on? – We know how to do that. We already spoke about
– that.
– That's something I cannot justify. Because I know it's – There, which is not far, it's gonna be the moment,
not for the movie itself, for the opportunities related, at least for me. That's why I said maybe we can go
but just because of something in me that's driving. on until the edge and leave here everything and to
It was good that night to make that footage in the come back in a couple of months.
middle of the street. It was good to be able to do – What is a surprise, what is unexpected to me is the
that, to act fast, to play this game of spying, to force risks we’re taking just right now. Now we should think
yourself to these states of mind, you know. I'm good about how to do a good movie, not about how to
by doing that, I'm excited, I'm feeling alive. escape, where to hide. All the time speaking about
– We are experiencing something. safety issues.
– I could give outputs from this experience, I'll be full – Fucking changing phone numbers, transferring
of outputs to share. I can write. Images are nothing. tapes to
Last night I was thinking that the moment we start to – Don't say that don’t forget I'm recording.
shoot we stop to think, while when we are working – Where to hide this where to stay tonight.
on the audio device, as now, we think more. Time by – I didn't know this project required us to act as spies.
time I feel images are doing their job by themselves. – This was unexpected.
The images are enough, because you can show
them. They are kindly, passively, perceived. They’re
acting on my behalf. But the audio pushes me to
think ‘cause it's my voice the main character, what
