Dawn Breakers International Film Festival 2010

Last Spring I was cast in a short film, "The Last Conversation" for a lovely and courageous young director, Amelia Zandi.

At the time I was intrigued as it was a very heavy script, based on the true story of an 18 year old Iranian girl who was executed for her beliefs in the Ba'hai religion.

Many of you know that in my modeling and acting career I am considered 'ethnically ambiguous' and that I can certainly pass for a Middle Eastern woman. I wanted the challenge of playing another ethnicity but to play an Iranian mother and bring her to life without offending anyone (I am Hispanic and Catholic, and do not have my own children) - - certainly had its challenges for me as an actress.

I remember shooting the 6 minute film - it took us 1 day. I had a terrible migraine afterwards from the sheer heaviness of the subject and the emotional toll it took upon me. But I was grateful to my director for being 'color blind' and taking a chance casting me.

Likewise, the actress who played my daughter, Mona Mossayab, is about 30, and had her own set of challenges as an actress to play a teenager. That said, she is already of the Ba'hai religion which only helped bring a trueness and dignity to her character that, for my part, I had to dig up from other life experiences.



http://dbiff.com/take4/the-last-conversation/#more-129"

Alas our director decided to submit to a film festival and got in - - even better it was screened in San Diego this year (last year was Switzerland) - - so I went last week with my husband to the show and also did a Q&A with my director after the screening.

Watching myself on that screen I remarked later to my husband that there was nothing pretty about me or that performance at all. A far cry from what I usually do in modeling and acting. I was ugly, furrowed, tear-stained -- and I am very proud to have been a part of it. To hear the quiet sobs and sniffles from the audience around us was gratifying - not that we wanted it to be a tear-jerker - and it wasn't. But many in that room knew the story and as I commented later to the audience, "I was just appreciative that they accepted our work so well."

Many thanks to Amelia Zandi, the promoters and selection staff of the Dawn Breakers International Film Festival and to my co-star and crew.

Long live the Arts!