| Farbod Khoshtinat | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 8, 1988 Tehran, Iran |
| Genres | Persian pop, hip hop, R&B, dance music, rock |
| Occupations | Director, editor, cinematographer, artist, writer, composer, producer, musician, singer. |
| Instruments | Guitar, keyboards, electronic beats |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Labels | Audio Crimes |
Farbod Khoshtinat (born August 8, 1988), better known by his pseudonym Fred, is an Iranian director, editor, cinematographer, artist, writer, composer, producer, musician and singer.
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Farbod Khoshtinat was born in Tehran, Iran. Fred graduated from Iran Broadcasting College in 2004 with a Diploma of Cinema. He earned a Post Graduate Diploma of Assistant Director from Elmi-Karbordi college, 2007.
In his early teens, he wrote and performed Rock music with several other Tehran musicians including bassist Koory, who now plays with The Yellow Dogs Band.
Fred later founded P.U.C.A., Persian's Underground Cinematic Arts. His mission statement: "The feeling that comes from deep of my heart, it comes from underground. There is no limit for us in art. No one can stop us. And no one can say what to do. We live it our way. The way we enjoy it. The underground way… I believe one of the greatest things about art is what it gives us the ability to see, imagine and feel in a certain way".[1]
Fred's video for Hichkas' Ye Mosht Sarbaz (A Bunch of Soldiers) was sponsored by the United Nations for the "Make Music Not War" Title,[2] and Cultures of Resistance helped produce it.[3] This video has been uploaded to websites around the world, and has been viewed more than 200,000 times on YouTube, despite the Iranian government's Censorship of YouTube.
In the summer of 2008, the Islamic Republic of Iran's state television demonized the Ye Mosht Sarbaz video in a program called Shock. Fred recalled, "Iranian TV just showed five seconds of the video, where Hichkas is moving his hands fast–-while a Shock narrator claimed that drugs made rappers and Satanists mad. It was propaganda to convince the society about arresting the rappers." [4] But the Iranian regime's persecution of young musicians inspired Bahman Ghobadi's film, No One Knows About Persian Cats. In his first interview with American press after fleeing Iran, Ghobadi said, "Fred helped me a lot with his good ideas and with his editing. He's so fresh. I told my editor we needed Fred's video clips in the film. Fred edited all of the music video clips. I am so happy I met Fred and Mahdyar Aghajani. They've influenced my film with their music. They have given me a new window. They've given me a gift."[5]
Fred traveled to Sierra Leone in 2008 and shot documentary footage for Director Iara Lee. The footage is included in the film, Cultures of Resistance. "No matter the cause...child soldiers of Africa learning to heal rather than kill — this film shows, that throughout many of the most dangerous and riven parts of the world, stability and sustainability can only follow reason, resistance, resolution and rededication to a unified human spirit," Richard Zimmerman wrote, on examiner.com.
Khoshtinat's short film, ATTN: Mr. Democrat, has been short listed in the Near East category of the Democracy Video Challenge.[6] Final judging in this competition closed midnight June 15, 2010.[7] The Bureau of International Information Programs, United States Department of State has announced that Khoshtinat's short film, ATTN: Mr. Democrat, is the 2010 Democracy Video Challenge Winner for the Near East and North Africa.[8] Jeff Baron, Staff Writer, America.gov, Washington reported that, "Khoshtinat said that his work on music videos and other underground, unauthorized short films led to an order by the Iranian government about a year ago that he stop making films. Instead, he said by e-mail, he moved to Malaysia to continue his studies. 'I am sure now that I cannot go back to Iran, but here I am safe and sound to work and publicize my art,' he said." [9]