Uprising: Observing the World with Mahboobeh Kalaee

Mahboobeh Kalaee’s animation style is experimental, yet instinctive. It’s raw, yet hides its most profound meaning in symbols and metaphors. It invites the viewer to consider distinctive and unique textures and viewpoints, while exploring narratives familiar to most. 

For example, her grad film ‘The Fourth Wall’, which won the Zlatko Grgic Award at Animafest Zagreb 2021 deals with themes of home, family, dreams and wishes, while set in an the abstract world of ‘the kitchen’, constantly changing while confining the characters to a 2D space.

Her love of creating started with her interest in books, without which she believes she would have never developed the “habit” of producing creative work. “Books are the foundation of my lived experiences,” she tells me. 

“When I was a kid, I was a member of a government cultural centre. It didn’t cost much, and it served as a library for children and teenagers. There, we engaged in creative theatre, wrote in our diaries and shared them with a group of my peers, made crafts with disposable objects, created handmade books, and sold them to earn money.”

Had she not been a member there, Mahboobeh believes that she would have never developed the habit of producing creative work. Ever since, she’s been writing, creating her own stories in handmade books, journaling and illustrating alongside her stories. 

When describing herself, she speaks in contrasts – much like her work, she believes that she’s a mix of opposites. “I am very dynamic, I hate stagnation and stillness, but in order to record and depict this dynamic of my mind and soul, I have to stand still, animate for hours until creative images emerge.”

At university, Mahboobeh took up industrial design and animation directing, which she found to be “a complex and generative journey.” At the end of each study period, her intuition directed her towards new fields ripe for exploration. “Various cultural and artistic experiences ultimately led me to animation directing,” she reflects.

Initially, Mahboobeh worked in book design and illustration, during which time she collaborated with various publications and focused on children’s and youth books, while doing smaller graphic design projects on the side. However, her need to document her experiences and emotion hadn’t subsided and ultimately, led her to discover filmmaking, which she says resonated deeply with her potential. “It was a powerful tool for expressing my entire self.”

Once she’d figured out what she wanted, all there was left to do was go and get it. Her entry into the creative industry was a “completely natural progression,” stemming from previous experience. “In fact,” she says, “Given the life I’ve lived, it couldn’t have turned out any other way. We are shaped by our interests, and the depth to which we nurture those interests ultimately determines our path. I refer to this approach to entering the profession as the ‘smart way’.”

Smart way or not, the truth is that through university and through her whole life, Mahboobeh hasn’t stopped creating, going through different forms of expression, different styles, and inspirations. This is what ultimately led to her formation as an artist. “Persistence alone leads to growth,” she says, “So I was encouraged to work continuously and I am still encouraged.”

This persistence led to her first professional project soon enough. A short film titled ‘Sink’, with which Mahboobeh discovered her unique approach and method to filmmaking – a path she has since sought to expand. It was through this project that she truly understood her own perspective, a moment critical to her journey. “The film was created using the technique of painting on film, effectively blending different media.”

Through expanding her artistic breath and continuing to create ever since ‘Sink’, Mahboobeh has figured out that directing is both the most challenging and the most rewarding part of her process. “Determining the project’s structure is the most enjoyable aspect of my job, and so is directing it,” she says. “This phase demands significant thinking and concentration, which I genuinely relish. In fact, I thrive on the process of thinking deeply about my work.”

It’s deep thinking that also keeps Mahboobeh fresh – observation and reflection have always been crucial parts of her creative process. As have been studying and exploring, through living and reading. 

Now that she’s well and truly part of the industry, she continues the path of self-discovery. “I enjoy finding new expressive techniques and observing small results during the process of a large project,” she says. “As well as the production of small and quick works. Working in general always excites me.” And on the flip side, stillness frustrated her.

“I am indebted to dynamism. The world is dynamic and I like to be part of a dynamic world.”

Mahboobeh shares that she’d like to see this dynamism reflected in more work across the industry. “I think we need to create taste and encourage people to watch intelligent and thoughtful works. As well as choosing bolder approaches and trusting artists and designers who break the structure.”

And when she does find dynamic work, she keeps it for a rainy, uninspired day: “My favourite artists’ work inspires me to create. Seeing that the world can be interpreted through such beautiful lenses motivates me to continue and present my own interpretation.”

Today, Mahboobeh still writes in her spare time. “It calms me down,” she says. “This, and observing.”

Observing the world and creating at the back of it is what gave a start to her creative journey and it’s still what still propels her forward. “Observing the world carefully and creating works of art as my interpretations to it is a kind of conversation. My passion is to create artistic interactions at the global level,” she says. 

The world, and life, seem stimulating and motivating enough for someone who knows what to look for.

“Life, in fact, includes all kinds of dynamics, from the movement of light to the movement of clouds in the sky, to a small fly that has become a nuisance.”

Animation seems to not be too different from this, along with all the possibilities it provides for an artist. Mahboobeh reflects on how the two have collided and the space she fills in them: “The position I reached is the most fitting culmination of all my lived experiences. Animation now encompasses all the interests I’ve engaged with throughout my life. It is a true fusion of writing, visual storytelling, sound, and the creation of entirely new worlds.”