“For the Sake of Calmness” is part of a series of video-installation projects in which I attempt to portray an abstract state of mind. In this film, I focus on the way the tediously repetitious transformation of my body—PMS—affects my perception. I speak of being immersed in the reality of one’s own life, and yet remaining painfully aware of what lies outside of it. But how does one visualize an amorphous idea, one that has become abstract to the point of obscurity? Landscape, real and imagined, provides the backdrop for my visual narrative, while sound, intertwined with my self-narrated monologue, adds a third dimension to my portrayal. I speak of the contradiction of being unmoored from the real world and yet achingly affected by it, when anxiety gives way to premonition, and everything has a silver lining.

While the lingering footage of the city- and landscapes may convey the tumult of my emotions about Iran, this is not a film about Iran. Iran is merely where I am anchored, the center from which I interact with the world. And where I stand, I see a state of constant entropy, which I have sought to visualize in this project. “For the Sake of Calmness” is my experimental take on a reality intensified by the emotional flare of PMS.