Cyrus Neshvad’s The Red Suitcase

by Nicole Goesseringer Muj

Cyrus Neshvad’s The Red Suitcase is a heartbreaking story of a 16-year-old Iranian girl who is visibly terrified after picking up her red suitcase at the airport. She is seen to be lost in thought and taking her time to leave the departure lounge. What awaits her on the other side of the automatic doors is even more daunting than we thought. The short is nominated for the 95th Academy® Awards after qualifying by winning the Oscar®qualifying award at the Tirana International Film Festival.

Director

Luxembourg Airport. Late in the evening. A veiled 16-yearold Iranian girl is frightened to take her red suitcase on the automatic carpet. She keeps pushing back the moment to go through the arrival gate and seems more and more terrified.

Cyrus Neshvad is a Luxembourg director of Iranian origin. He has directed several short films including The Orchid, Antoine, Son and Portraitist, have all been produced by CYNEFILMS. Collectively, these films have officially been selected in over 300 festivals, over 30 of them Oscar-qualifying. Portraitist qualified for the Oscars in 2020 and won 55 awards, including the Letzebuerger Filmpraïs 2021 in Luxembourg. Currently, Neshvad is developing his first feature film Le Refuge (The Shelter), supported by the Film Fund Luxembourg.

Neshvad comments, “Being nominated makes me proud to bring support to the Iranians fighting right now in the streets of Tehran for their freedom.”

The film’s writer Guillaume Levil has written and directed sev - eral films, including The Trouser Issue, which was broadcasted on TV. He has also directed Arthur Rambo and wrote Portraitist, which was also the winner of The Lëtzebuerger Filmprais.

The beautiful composition which sets the sombre tone of the film was created by Kyan Bayani who was the composer of two-time, Oscarnominated Collective, directed by Alexander Nanau and Bad Banks, directed by Christian Schwochow and Christian Zübert on Netflix.

IEM had a chance to interview the talented director prior to the Oscars.

Can you tell us a little more about your background in the film industry?

As an Iranian filmmaker living in Luxembourg, The Red Suitcase is my 6th professional short film. My previous short film, Portraitist qualified for the Oscars in 2019 and won the Luxembourgish Oscars in 2019. I will be shooting my first feature film in May 2023.

What was your inspiration for making The Red Suitcase?

In 2019 in Luxembourg, my mother told me that lots of women in Iran were disappearing for saying their opinions or not wearing their headscarves correctly. That terrified me because it was happening, and nobody was talking about it. I wanted to do something. I decided to make a short film starring an Iranian girl who decides to stand up for her rights by taking her headscarf off: Her free will to choose. Today, after Mahsa Amini’s death, the whole world knows what’s going on in Iran and I am really relieved about that.

How did you select your lead actress Nawelle Ewad?

In the casting, she had to play the scene where Ariane removes her Hijab to escape. Nawelle did it in a way I was not expecting with tears and fear, by looking at me deeply in the eyes. This convinced me.

How did music (by Kyan Bayani) play a key role in the film?

In The Red Suitcase, the music is unique. And when it appears it’s very minimalistic, nearly like a sound design and underlines slightly emotions of this Iranian girl prisoned in these big spaces of the airport.

Of course, the film is very timely. Can you comment on what you would like world audiences to take away from the film?

Women and men should have equal rights because I think that they are the two wings of the same bird.

How has your work in short films prepared you for your first feature?

The work on a short film or a feature film is the same for me. It’s like constructing a building with three apartments or 30 apartments. For me, it’s just a continuation and trying to keep the passion to tell stories by associating pictures together in order to give emotions.

Can you tell us about your upcoming feature film “Le Refuge”?

It’s the story of a six-year-old Iranian boy escaping the revolution in Iran with his mother. They find shelter in a camp in Luxembourg. There the boy befriends himself with an old Russian woman. A friendship grows between these two people who are different in every way and don’t even speak the same language. It’s a very beautiful story.