After ten intense filming sessions in Tehran, my short film, “Mohsen Is Alive,” has finally reached the editing room—a space where scattered scenes transform into cohesive dreams.
This film explores the overwhelming influence of modern media on everyday life, focusing on Mohsen, a young man struggling amidst endless waves of contemporary patterns, gradually losing touch with his true self. Mohsen embodies today’s Iranian youth, entangled not only by personal and daily challenges but also constrained by the rational frameworks and limiting beliefs imposed by modernity, leaving him mentally and emotionally diminished.
“Mohsen Is Alive” weaves together multiple narratives across different timelines, capturing pivotal crises and stages throughout Mohsen’s life. He drifts endlessly between youth, middle age, and even beyond death, unable to anchor himself in any moment of solace. Remarkably, these varied phases occur simultaneously in a single place, symbolizing his internal unrest and fractured identity.
The screenplay is inspired by “Professor of Philosophy,” a story from the book “The Fall and Other Stories” by Ebrahim Izadi.
