Interview: Sahar Ghorishi, Founder & Creative Director of Journey of/to Dawn and Co-Founder of Rise Beyond Beauty

By Angela Tai

You received your law degree from Brunel University London a couple of years ago and you’ve worked for the Wimbledon Magistrates Court and Big Voice London among other notable organizations. What stimulated your interest in law? 

I went to law school for two years, I didn’t even end up finishing it so I got a degree but it’s not a full-fledged degree. It was kind of like a ‘two year in higher education’ law degree. I only had one more year left but I mentally and physically couldn’t proceed with that part of my life. I think it was meant to be - I left and then I set out for freelance work, the majority of it was styling work. I did a bit of Photoshop on the side and learned how to merge it in with my styling. After that, I decided to apply to a couple of art schools and I didn’t really think I would get in, it was just something that I wanted to do to prove that I didn’t need to be at university to be an artist. I ended up getting into one of the really good universities in London and I decided to give it a go and really ended up loving it. I think it taught me how to be very open-minded in regards in art in general and it also taught me how to have more of a thick skin, you know, just taking things by the chin because there’s so many people who don’t understand things and I think I had this high expectation going into any community or institution. I thought I’d have a lot of people who would understand where I’m coming from but unfortunately, it’s not like that. It's taught me how to have more patience with education, working in an institution, or a job where the majority of people there are white so it’s interesting navigating those spaces. 

You’re currently working towards a BFA at Goldsmiths, University of London. What do you hope to do with this parallel background you’ve accumulated in law and art?

It’s interesting because I think they merge in a way. When I was younger, I didn’t know how I’d be able to merge this need for justice and this need for educating through art. I didn’t think you could really merge knowledge, education, and law with the arts. I thought art was just something people did for fun - I loved it but nobody around me told me “wow, Sahar what you’re doing is amazing, you need to move forward with this and do what you love.” While working on arts and learning that I could go after this, I realized how education through art is real underrated. That’s unfortunately what I think institutions try to avoid - mixing those two together when those two work beautifully together. I think I’ve been able to confirm this question through my art, I can use my need for human rights to educate people on human rights and justice through art. Even in law school, they don’t want to teach you this, they don’t want to dive into the conflicts between Israel and Palestine. The things they teach you in law school aren’t the most warming thing, it doesn’t always concern justice. I’ve chosen the things that need to be highlighted in my art and I’ve tried to show that you can be, educate, and show the right way of justice through creativity as well. 

You serve as the Founder and Creative Director of Journey of/to Dawn - a platform where you create short films and content for Iranian/MENA society. Can you tell us about the process of making your work?

So I never really thought I’d get into film, it’s only been about three years that I’ve been directing. I think it comes out of frustration, the first video I created was called The Fall of the Sun, this came from a place when I went to Iran four years ago. I went into a salon and within that salon, I didn’t know any of those people but those people felt the need to come up to me around five or six times and suggest I get a nose job. It was interesting, it was a couple of things about skin bleaching and different standards of beauty that they thought would look good on me. It was through that incident, in particular, that got me really frustrated. I figured I needed to do something and for some strange reason, the universe wanted me to go through this route of film. I remember I was actually in a coffee shop and wrote everything down, I went to the shop next door and bought a book and then I proceeded to try and find people through social media that might be interested in being participants for the film. I found a couple of videographers and stylists but every time I’ve tried to create a film, I’ve met so many amazing different people. I guess my process is through frustration, sometimes through trying to show beauty, but the reason why I like to show beauty is because I’m frustrated that arguments don’t do that enough. I always make mood boards and contact videographers, especially ones who I know will be able to capture what I guess I’m trying to portray but unfortunately the process does start from this concern and frustration.

What do you hope to impart to other filmmakers? What are some hurdles female filmmakers face in the MENA region and/or that you have personally experienced?

Unfortunately, sometimes when I’ve worked with males in the past, I haven’t had the best experiences. It hasn’t happened a lot but it happened one time where it’s just been a very slow process and people haven’t taken me seriously or sometimes when you send your work off to someone who is in a higher position, they’re more tempted to push it off to the side and not take me seriously. You would see a lot more male filmmakers and videographers in Iran, even though I’m in constant contact with these people, they still don’t take me seriously. That’s the most hurtful part of being a MENA female filmmaker in this day in age. I’m thankful because I have faced a couple of hurdles and stuff but the majority of the time it has been okay. I try to be strong and I try to take things on the chin and when one door is closed in front of me, I’m looking for other doors. Nothing’s going to stop me! There is absolutely no one who can stop me or put a pause to this. My mentality doesn’t let me be in contact with certain barriers in a way but when I am faced with those, I’m like “yeah, it is your loss and I’m going to be big and at the top one day.” It is hard for female filmmakers but I’m fortunate enough to have had a less rough road because my mentality is very much like, “this is what I’m going to do and this is how it’s going to happen.” It is hard and I am ready; I know that I’ll be faced with more barriers and hurdles but I have to keep going. There’s this fuel inside of me, for example, when that nose video came out, I felt so much passion for that video and I knew it would happen and it did. I don’t doubt those female filmmakers won’t get to this because I know that they will but we’re basically trying to prove to people that we’re more than what patriarchal society makes us out to be. 

Is there anything you wish you’d known prior to going into this industry?

Just to take things seriously but when things don’t go to plan, I have this habit of stressing out a lot. For example, the day before one of my shoots, the camera crew told me that they weren’t going to be at the location the day before. It was a nightmare but we ended up shooting the entire thing inside my house which was a blessing in disguise because it turned out to be amazing. If I could go back a couple of years, I would just tell myself that everything will work out - please don’t stress because things actually do happen for a reason. I’m beginning to learn that more and more as I go forward. Things have fallen into place like I would have never imagined. And, it’s me and as well as things around me that have come together. Take things on the chin because it’ll work itself out. That’s what I would tell myself or anyone going into film because making films is stressful - try to enjoy it though. The stress is temporary but what you put out into the world will stay forever so just enjoy the journey.  

Given your heritage of British Iranian, what is your hope for the future of cinema, especially when it comes to the portrayal of the Arab people? And, what are some of the misconceptions you see the media portray now?

I am Iranian with parts of my heritage related to the rest of the Middle East. I think we are one, the Middle East is one and the MENA region is one. I feel like the region needs to support each other so we can grow together; unfortunately, the west has such a big input and has so much control on the entire world. I’m very thankful for social media, I think social media is a big help in spreading messages because unfortunately, the news is a place where we’re not shown off in a very good light. The other day, I collected a bunch of videos that literally showed that and it was just so heartbreaking to watch. I came across a video of the Israeli army attacking a Palestinian family and it was recorded and I felt so weird watching it. The cameraman was just capturing it and there was so much pain and no one was doing anything about it. As much as I hate social media, it can actually be an amazing tool in spreading the MENA message that this idea that you have of us isn’t correct at all. I remember my best friend’s mom was asking if everyone was safe now - Iran’s made out to be this place of war and conflict and Iran does have lots of things that it needs to improve on. People see Iran as this massive war zone and dangerous place because the media has made it out to be like this. If there are any problems within Iran or the rest of the Middle East, it’s because the west put itself within our countries and taken so many things and made us out to be this monster when the true monster is the person that you’re listening to every day on the news. Social media can help us start that conversation but what you’re hearing on BBC or CNN is not always true and people need to wake up. 

You produced your very own two-part film, The Fall of the Standard of the Beauty, congratulations! The film pays homage to the beauty of Arab women while also trying to dismantle Western standards of beauty in the process. You were very candid about wanting a nose job in an effort to be accepted by not only Western culture but modern Iranian culture as well. As someone who’s passionate about all things beauty, how do you stay authentic to yourself and your heritage while living in a society where the gold standard of beauty is still based on the Anglo/Western culture?

I’m very thankful, a couple of years ago, I would look at myself in the mirror and pick apart everything that I wanted to change. I had a nose job consultation; I had so many things that I wanted to do. I had a friend (this is when I first started university) and I told her that I wanted to get a nose job, breast reduction, etc. Then, she looked at me and asked why I was trying to fix everything with a needle. Then, it really hit hard because I do believe that everyone has a choice in life and if they want to go through with plastic surgery, that is perfectly fine. I just hope you’re doing it for yourself and not for standards but there’s a really fine line between these two. When I was in university, my friend said this to me and it changed my outlook on a lot of things. I started learning more about my heritage and my ancestors. I learned that my heritage isn’t perfect and it has caused pain but it has felt pain too. It’s about being accountable for yourself and knowing that nobody is perfect. You’re beautiful in your own way and other people are beautiful in other ways. I thought nobody would want to like me or look at me if I looked a certain way. It was my recent heritage - my mom and grandmother tried to follow these standards and the other day, my unibrow was growing out and my mom said I needed to get rid of it but I told her that I actually liked it. We’re so in tune with these standards, my own family members are constantly telling me to brush up on certain things when I am fine the way that I am so I’m thankful because I love myself now. Before I really disliked the way that I looked but I just don’t care anymore. Because I’ve gotten to this stage of not caring, I try to inspire people with my attitude now. I used to look at pictures of the most beautiful models like Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner back in the day and thought they were so perfect but now, I don’t care and don’t apply myself to standards because standards are here to destroy real beauty.  People like me don’t want to give into that and it has been painful but we’ve learned. I just hope the rest of the Iranian community can learn to do that because it’s all about what the west generates out. They aren’t like, “oh I want to do this or what are these celebrities doing.” Even if celebrities are doing the dumbest thing, people in Iran would still find it amazing. That’s what irritates me. One time, I was in Iran and was in my cousin’s salon - this girl had very tight braids and I went up to her and asked because she was light Iranian and I asked her why she wanted to get braids. She told me she got braids because she saw that Kim Kardashian got them so she wanted to get them too. And, I was like woah, this girl doesn’t know the history behind all these different types of braids when it comes to the black community and African history. All she knows is that Kim Kardashian got them and she wants them too. This is the most frustrating part - that Iranians aren't educated about culture but for some reason, it’s okay to pick and choose things and put it on a white woman and get that to influence the rest of the world. People aren’t getting the right education, instead of getting braids, they should be getting educated on what getting braids mean for different communities. I just hope to educate people on where I am now with my mentality. 

What inspires you to put out your content? 

I feel like the majority of the artwork comes from a lot of pain. It comes from a lot of nostalgic memories, lessons, and music. My biggest inspiration is music - I started off my creative journey with music but I really didn’t get into it that much. This is where male domination comes into play, when it came to the music industry at that time, I felt a lot of toxic masculinity that I really wanted to back away from. This was also the point when I wasn’t very confident in myself. Art was a place where I found hope but music has always been my first inspiration and has been the first thing I go to, especially Iranian music. I pick apart words and I sit with them and I feel them. Then, images come to my mind and I just put those down. I had my mum at my hand, she’s an amazing artist and inspires me with everything that she does with her interior, thinking, and essence. My inspiration comes from my family, my home, and my ancestors as well as music. More specifically, my inspiration comes from Iranian lyrics, music is a big thing for me and I thought I was the only one who did that but after getting to know my community a bit more, I’ve learned that they really pay attention to the lyrics. Music really does inspire me but it’s a mixture of pain, family, and home for me. 

As an artist and filmmaker, there’s often the struggle of creating work that fulfills you in comparison to the work that you know the public will like. How do you find that balance?

I think I’ve come across that conversation more. I used to do a lot of illustration with more faces involved but now I just love concentrating on feelings and making images out of those feelings. I find a balance because I am working on a couple of things now but I’m happy that when it comes to my personal work, I can just use my imagination and create what I want. I’m finding my middle ground, it’s my aesthetic and this is how I work. I try to balance everything out - I make sure I’m doing things that represent that certain month; for example, I did stuff for Black History Month. When it comes to that prime month, I try to make things more visual because it’s important for people to engage in these kinds of topics. If I wanted to draw Malcolm X, I would draw Malcolm X how he looks like so people know it’s him. I can’t draw a feeling of Malcolm X so when it comes to certain topics, I stick to more realistic stuff. I love this feeling of creating feelings and making images. I try to balance it and plan my schedule out of what I’m posting. I think it’s all about planning and I always let people know where I am with my mindset because one day, my art might not look like it did two months ago. It’s all about finding balance and making sure what you’re creating represents what’s going on. 

What might our audience find surprising about challenges you face in your work (and the most rewarding)?

It’s the fact that sometimes, you create work that is supposed to educate on a whole other level but then you see that someone literally doing nothing the next day and promoting this westernized idea of being an Iranian. And then, I try to form a true artistic version of Iranians and you see the western portrayal getting so much more attention. That’s the most frustrating part - when I know I’m making good stuff and the people around me are creating authentic work as well but not getting enough attention. Then, you literally see people feeding into those standards and getting so much attention. I just wish people would wake up and listen to us. We’re here trying to show you everything but you just want to close your eyes and move forward with the west and these standards of beauty. That’s the most frustrating part but the most rewarding part is when you work hard and then you get those messages and you see those people who don’t give into those westernized standards of beauty. They come to you and thank you for your work and having that as well as meeting new members of the community makes me feel so at home and gives me so much ease. I think that’s the most rewarding part - knowing that there are people out there who understand you and who want the same thing as you which is change.