Jan 9, 2024

Interview with Oscar Nominee: Director Yegane Moghaddam on Her Favorite Shot in "Our Uniforms" (Exclusive Interview)

We invited the makers of the 15 films nominated for this year's Academy Awards for Best Animated Short to share their favorite shots from their films and why. Each film is listed in the order in which the materials were received.

In this issue, we present "Our Uniform," an independent film by Iranian filmmaker Yegane Moghaddam. Our Uniform was a hit on the festival scene, winning the Jean-Luc Siveras Award for Best First Film at Annecy, the Audience Award at Fantoche, the Grand Jury Prize at Spain's Animayo Film Festival, and qualifying for the Academy Award.

"Our Uniforms" is literally the story of an Iranian girl who recalls her school days through the wrinkles and fabrics of her old uniform. Rather than using paper, canvas, or digital media, Moghaddam painted directly on the fabric used for school uniforms to tell the story of someone who dreams of a better future.

Below, Moghadam shares his favorite scene from the short and explains its significance:

This shot left a lasting impression because it was so improvised.

Initially, it was an important shot for me because it started a dialogue about individuality and self-expression. After introducing "our school," "our class," "our uniform," "our teacher," "our moderator," etc., here for the first time the first pronoun "I" appears and talks about herself. When I storyboarded her, I decided to unbutton her buttons one by one in order to discover the great void within her. But the result did not amuse me. The tone was moralistic and stilted.

Realizing that I had lost sight of the animation potential, I decided to add a new twist to this shot. This time I added a zipper just below the button to emphasize how deep she should dive to explore her true desires. While I was zipping it up, I added another one with a safety pin and another one with a patch: ...... I had to think about it. But at some point I had to stop.

I'm really glad I used mixed media techniques: endless combinations, i.e., endless visual possibilities.

I should add that everything was done in software. After preparing the stop-motion footage, all the clips were combined under each other to create a layered effect.

Last but not least, I would like to believe that this shot sums up the entire film and says everything I wanted to say. Poetically and economically.

Read the other entries in the series so far: