Hafedh Khalifa on Divine Comedy and FITF

Before performing "Divine Comedy", he had directed many religious and philosophical shows. He came to the conclusion to be moderate in his work about religion in the shows after his intellectual transformations. Dante's Divine Comedy has been on stage many times. A new adaptation was performed at the 41^st FITF that was undoubtedly one of the best performances.

                                  

Tell us about yourself.

I am Hafedh Khalifa, I have a master's degree in drama from Tunisia. I lived in Italy for twenty-five years and directed many plays and films in Italy. I have collaborated with famous people like Eugenio Barba in Italy, and I have also participated in many festivals. I have won many awards, the last one was from Carthage Festival in Tunisia. I returned to my country after the Tunisian revolution and founded a group that deals with the exchange culture and arts. For example, the show "Divine Comedy" is a co-production of Italian and Tunisian companies. I am also a member of the professional association of Tunisian artists.

 How much is your adaptation accurate that you make such an Avant-garde performance?

- This is seventy percent accurate. But the play has some differences, in the book, there is a character "Virgil ", Dante's teacher, who is his inspiration. I replaced him with the character of the poet " Al-Ma'arri ". I wanted to emphasize this important issue "Afterlife"  has  Eastern origin, which is also discussed in books such as "The Dead of the Pharaohs" or "Avesta". The divine comedy divided in three parts, hell, purgatory and heaven. We only focused on the hell in the show. Therefore, I named this part of my performance Hell of East and West. Based on it, I chose Dante's guide in Hell from the East and put the poet "Al-Ma'arri " as his guide in the show.

Has divine comedy been performed in other festivals?

- Yes, it has been performed at the Cairo Experimental Theater Festival and the Carthage Festival in Tunisia and had public performances in Tunisia.

Dante's beloved, who was trapped in hell under the torment of the angel, was freed from the torment by Dante's appeal to love. Do you emphasize that love has a power beyond imagination?

- It is true. The most important thing is love and friendship, but what kind of affection, love and friendship? In the Divine Comedy, Dante has such a love.  I brought all these circumstance of love, affection, friendship and humanity to the stage, but I added the character of Dante, who with Al-Ma'arri will go to the place of torment for humans, which is hell. Dante traveled to the world of Purgatory with Al-Ma'arri, a journey that is mentioned in many books such as Arda Viraf, Avesta and Death of the Pharaohs. Traveling to Purgatory is a very old topic that has been emphasized in many religions and thoughts. When I read Dante's Divine Comedy, I didn’t find any drama. During dramaturgy; I thought that all the bad and unpleasant events should be changed in a pleasant way. In my work, I leave thinking and interpretation to the audience. Religious people may watch the show and think that if they sin, they will go to hell, but if they have love, they will surely go to heaven. I love poets like Rumi and Hafez. The Divine Comedy is more a sufi work than a philosophical work.

What do you think about FITF?

- I was surprised by the reception After performing the show twice in the competition section, the festival officials asked me to perform the show again. I met art loving and artistic people, which was very surprising for me. Many officials also gave very interesting comments about this show, which was very surprising for me. Twenty years ago, I participated in FITF with a show from Italy. Everything is new for me and I see many changes in this festival. I am very happy that FITF has been well received.

The 41st FITF is underway in Tehran until January 31. The festival is presided over by Iranian actor and director  Kourosh Zarei