Ms. Farahani, you have almost 15 million followers on Instagram. Your appearance at a Coldplay concert, which was broadcast in 81 countries, attracted even more attention: there you sang the ballad “Baraye”, the anthem of Iran’s freedom movement. The song even won a Grammy for Best Song For Social Change. How did your surprise gig come about?
Very simple: I was called. Chris Martin contacted me and asked if I would sing this song at the Coldplay concert in Buenos Aires.
The idea came from the Coldplay frontman himself, not you?
It was like this. I was shooting a film in South Africa, so we didn’t have much time to prepare for my performance. I first emailed all the film producers that this appearance was incredibly important. It was so tight that I had to get off the plane straight to the sound check in Buenos Aires and just about made it. It felt afterwards as if fate had made everything possible for this performance to really happen.
You are one of the best-known exiles in Iran. Her biography stands for the right to freedom. Did you realize that singing Shervin Hajipour’s iconic song, which was awarded a Grammy by First Lady Jill Biden herself, would not only go viral among Iranians?
We artists use art to change something. Art is loud without us having to shout. Politicians have to shout, we artists let our art do the talking. I am so thankful to Chris Martin for the opportunity to bring this special song to her large audiences around the world.
Since then, have you used every stage to call for international solidarity for the political change in your home country, starting with your seat on the Berlinale jury?
The Berlinale is the most political film festival in the world. It’s not about sophistication, fashion and glamour, but about topics with greater relevance. I wanted to take this chance. Because we need Europe more than ever on Iran’s side. We need the combined forces of Germany and France.
What do you expect from these countries?
Above all, that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is put on the EU terror list. Their fortunes must be frozen, like Russian oligarchs and their jet set kids. Above all, it is important to make it clear to everyone that the mullahs’ regime is at an end. That the revolution achieves its goal.
Where did you get the conviction to hold on to hope undeterred?
Rumi says that a plant does not grow from thunder, but from rain. The thunder was the demonstrators who were heard loud and died in the streets. Now many argue that there are hardly any demos and declarations of freedom. But thunder alone won’t change anything unless the rain comes too. That rain is the ongoing economic crisis and external pressures, global sanctions that have to hit the regime and also the attention that is being given to this revolution. If we only demonstrated in our country, the government would kill everyone one by one. But if there is constant pressure on the regime, it will eventually give up. The people alone cannot overthrow the regime because the mullahs have the military on their side. Religion and the military stand on one side, the people on the other. That is why we need outside help, especially economic pressure.
