IN SEARCH OF HOME: THE HEART OF 'SAN FRANCISCO COWBOY'

Steve Long Director of Global Film Exhibition in conversation with Director Hassan Zee 

I'm intrigued by the heart of your film's story a young cowboy's search for his mother. What’s the personal story behind this? Is there a bit of your own life reflected in it?

 I met a character at the premiere of my first film 'Night of Henna'. We went for coffee and he told me his story which really affected me. He was abandoned as a child so that's where the story came from. The character Josh is an immigrant from a small town to a big city and I am an immigrant from Pakistan to San Francisco so you can see a lot of me in Josh. I have been working on this story for more than ten years. You can see a cameo of me in the film. When I came to San Francisco, I had two big bags in my arms and I knew no one. That's where I started my life. 

Your film brings together the wildness of the countryside with the urban soul of San Francisco. How does your own connection to these places color the narrative?

 I was born in a village so I can understand the simplicity of life in the countryside. I have lived in big cities all my life but whenever I go home to Pakistan, I can feel there is something different in the eyes of those people living in the countryside. They look at life differently. Life is slow-paced and there is purity in feelings. Josh is not exposed to the fast and colorful life of San Francisco so the city is new to him. He is lost and meets all these interesting characters in the city who change his life forever. Josh learns a lot of hard realities of life and the viewer learns with him. 

"San Francisco Cowboy" isn't just a drama; it's an adventure. How did your love for these genres shape the film?

 San Francisco Cowboy is my sixth feature film. I always want to give something unique to my viewers with my films. Something which they have not seen before. I wanted to show the real places of San Francisco which have so much history and shape the culture of this city. It might look a bit unusual to the viewer but it's unique and I gave the viewer the real taste of an open city. You can be whoever you want to be in San Francisco. 

San Francisco is more than just a backdrop in your film it's a living, breathing presence. Can you share an anecdote about how the city left its mark on you or the production?

 I am in Love with San Francisco. Living in this city for the last 23 years is an adventure. I wanted the viewer to travel with Josh in this film, experience the real San Francisco experience the story, and meet these amazing characters. I wanted to cast the actors who have lived in the city or know the city of San Francisco very well. We were lucky to find the cast and crew locally in the San Francisco Bay Area. We found Jimmy Darling, Bunny Stewart, Dano Jason, and Kristin Jacques locally. We had great cinematographer Leo Moring and Carrin MacErlane.

         The characters in "San Francisco Cowboy" are as diverse as the city itself. How did you find the heartbeat of each character, and how do they mirror the people you’ve met in your own life?

I have met many characters in San Francisco. There are so many young people who come to find their dreams in this city, I live downtown so I meet a lot of these characters all the time. I have conversations with these people as I was a newcomer once to the city and I met people who helped me. Now I help them. I met someone who told me her story and that's how I shaped Paris's character. 

The concept of family runs deep in your film. What does family mean to you, and how do you hope this resonates with your audience?

 As human beings, we want to belong. We want to be around people who love us.  I had an amazing father and mother who have passed into spirit now.  We cannot separate ourselves from our parents and in our culture family is everything. Josh wants to know who his mom is and he goes to San Francisco to find her. While growing up he looks at other children around him who had mothers and he did not, So he wants to find out what a mother's love actually feels like.

Every film has its hurdles. Can you let us in on a moment during production that tested your resolve, and how you got through it?

 Every morning my assistant producer will call and say, 'What's the disaster today?' I will say every morning, 'We will get through this'. When I make films I know things are not going to go smoothly every day. There are always hurdles.  I overcome the hurdles every day and still be able to make the film. We won the Best Feature Film Award at IndoFrench Film Festival. We won the Best Cinematography award at the Cinematic European Film Festival and Best Make Up at the Wallachia Film Festival. When you win all these awards you forget about the hurdles. You go and make another film.  
As we follow the cowboy's search for his mother, there's a lot of emotion involved. How do you hope the audience will feel as the story unfolds, especially in those final, pivotal moments?

 A lot of people who saw the film cried. It's a very touching scene. That is the moment people have been waiting for while watching the whole film. I think people will not be able to forget that scene. People can also witness some amazing acting in those last scenes by the actors of San Francisco Cowboy. 

         Your journey is as inspiring as it is unique, merging the worlds of medicine and filmmaking. Having witnessed such profound suffering in your medical practice, how have those experiences shaped the narratives you choose to explore in your films?

I have worked in the burn unit of the hospital and I was working with women who were burned by their husbands or inlaws because these women could not bear children. These women were dying in my hands and I thought I must do something about these women. Give these women a voice. So a lot of my films are about women's empowerment and gender equality. 

       Finally, what's one piece of heartfelt advice you'd share with someone starting their journey in filmmaking, especially if they’re tackling themes as intimate as those in "San Francisco Cowboy"? 

Take time to develop your story, Show your screenplay to trustworthy people to get guidance. Never give up on your dreams.