31 minutes / Color
Release: 2010
Copyright: 2008
FINAL FITTING follows Mr. Arabpour, the master tailor and craftsman, and the proprietor of the most famous tailor shop in Qom (Iran's most important religious center). A spry octogenarian, for the last several decades he has been the official tailor to the most important religious leaders of the country, starting with the late Ayatollah Khomeini to the current Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, as well as for the former president, Mohammad Khatami. His international clientele include such prominent figures as Imam Musa Sadr of Lebanon.
He speaks to us of the different styles and the many variations on the traditional aba and ammameh (the turban and the robe). Mr. Arabpour shows us how he cuts and creates the garments and how he adapts them for different men with different needs. The newer styles, more sculpted, more tailored, with defined seams and pockets, are designed for a new kind of Ayatollah: the more reform-minded and democratic' ones of whom Khatami is the supreme example.
FINAL FITTING showcases the changing cultural styles of Iran and its clerical elite through its portrait of one man and his time-honored craft.
"The beauty of FINAL FITTING lies in the intersection of the tailor's wit and Haeri's careful editing. A study of the interplay of modesty and vanity, the humanity at the core of theocracy."—The Daily Star
Select Accolades
Reflections on Islam and clothing, Iranian cinema, Persian painting and more characterize this thought-provoking artistic documentary.
Reza Haeri | 2010 | 35 minutes | Color
