In "No One Knows About Persian Cats," which makes its long-awaited debut here at the Milwaukee Film Festival this week, Negar Shaghaghi and Ashkan Koshanejad are working to put together a band to take to London to play a concert based on the material they've written and recorded together at home and in borrowed rehearsal spaces and begged-for studio time.
Before the gig -- which is rapidly approaching -- they need to not only find musicians for this band, they need to sort out passports, too.
The catch is, their band -- Take It Easy Hospital -- is based in Iran, which, it turns out, isn't an especially indie-rock friendly place.
In fact, this based-on-real-life fictional film -- directed by Bahman Ghobadi, who also co-wrote it with Roxana Saberi (you may remember her as the American journalist arrested on spying charges last year in Iran) and Hossein Mortezaeiyan -- suggests the country isn't an especially easy place to plays the blues, metal, rap, folk or jazz, either.
The pair hooks up with DVD and CD bootlegger Nader (Hamed Behdad), a wannabe rock and roll kingpin who believes in their passion for their music and vows to help them arrange everything they need to get to London.
And so begins a journey through dimly lit, makeshift rehearsal places, among musicians creating their art in secret and in fear of reprisals and arrest, and secret, private concerts.
They make their livings in other ways -- just like most musicians do here -- but they also have to hide from neighbors who might report them to the authorities and from police.
And they're not even sure they can trust people like Nader, who says he's on their team.
The film has been drawing a lot of interest, partially because of the Saberi connection, but mostly among indie rockers, who see flashes of themselves and are shocked at what their counterparts have to do to make their music in their own country.
The fact that Take It Easy Hospital, now based in London, has also been getting press and airplay in the U.S. has also helped spark interest in the film.
The movie has a rock and roll feel, with lots of dark settings and musical segments that could be excerpted as stand-alone music videos and some scenes that could pass for documentary footage.
Although "Persian Cats" doesn't make blatant political commentary, the way the musicians are forced to slink around in fear -- police even stop them on the street to cold-heartedly take away their dog ("it's filthy," the unseen officer says) -- feels like a strong enough statement.
And the fact that Take It Easy Hospital exists at all is, perhaps, the most rebellious rock and roll statement of a generation.
"No One Knows About Persian Cats" screens Monday, Sept. 27 at the Oriental Theatre, at 7 p.m.; Wednesday, Sept. 29 at North Shore Cinema, at 8:15 p.m.; and Saturday, Oct. 2 at North Shore Cinema, at 2 p.m.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
